Luke Schenn more likely out one month

TORONTO (Dec. 8) — Maple Leafs’ rookie defenseman Luke Schenn underwent an MRI exam on his injured knee Monday and it confirmed a ligament sprain that will sideline him for as much as four weeks, but certainly more than the initial two-week estimate from coach Ron Wilson.

“No knee injury like this heals in two weeks,” said a Leafs’ official. “It is a ligament problem — but not his ACL — and he won’t need surgery. He could miss up to a month.”

Schenn hurt the knee on an innocent-looking hit by Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin early in the second period of Saturday night’s 2-1 loss to the Capitals at the Air Canada Centre. Schenn’s leg was planted when Ovechkin rammed into him, and that’s how the ligament damage occured. Until the injury, Schenn had played in all 27 Leaf games this season, and Wilson has repeatedly called him the club’s “top defensive defenseman."