Jake McCabe has seen that old photo of Borje Salming’s gruesome facial injury and thus knows a bit about the risks of playing defence in the NHL.

But, like the Leafs great Salming — who needed 200-plus stiches to close a crease-scramble skate-blade mishap that occurred 39 years ago Wednesday in Detroit, McCabe is quick healer.

While his mush swelled considerably after Ivan Demidov’s pass struck him in Montreal on Saturday, forcing him to leave the match, McCabe’s jaw was down to normal size in practice on Tuesday.

“My face just blew up right away, so they wanted to make sure there was no fracture,” McCabe said. “I felt lucky on that one I guess. It happens quite a bit, the puck ramps up your stick (when trying to thwart a pass or shot).”

McCabe has had some worse things happen in tha

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