Maple Leafs' Gardiner leaves game with muscle spasm

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner left Wednesday night's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets with a muscle spasm in his leg, head coach Mike Babcock said, according to TSN's Mark Masters.

"He's got some kind of spasm and he couldn't get it to relax so they wouldn't let him come back," said Babcock. "They knew he had, but he thought he was fine and then when he got out there he wasn't fine."

Gardiner did not come out for the second period after being limited to just six shifts and left with nearly nine minutes to play in the first period, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton.

The 27-year-old currently leads the team in ice time, playing 22:52 per night, while pacing all Maple Leafs blue-liners with 35 points in 59 games.