MAJOR: Toronto Maple Leafs Head Coach Sheldon Keefe Punishes Captain John Tavares By Benching Him In The Most Crucial Part Of The Game

Almost two weeks ago, the Maple Leafs faced off against the Boston Bruins in what was an eventual overtime loss. Tavares was on the ice for the final goal and fans were irate with his effort on the backcheck that allowed Brad Marchand to net the game-winner.

Since then, the Toronto Maple Leafs have gotten into two games where they went to overtime and in both games, Tavares has not touched the ice. The first overtime was against Tavares' former team, the New York Islanders. The Islanders scored within the first minute so most assumed that Tavares just did not get a shift because there was not enough time.

However, last night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Tavares was stapled to the bench for the full 3-minute and 26-second overtime. The Leafs played six different forwards during overtime, none of which were Tavares. They eventually fell to the Blue Jackets after Kent Johnson scored the game-winner.

A few notable names that got to play in overtime over Tavares are Max Domi, Calle Jarnkrok, and Noah Gregor.

Unfortunately, the Leafs were unable to pull out the victory but they were able to come back from five goals down. In the Leafs comeback, Tavares scored two assists putting him at 28 points in 27 games so far.

Sheldon Keefe has yet to comment on when he will stop benching Tavares during overtime but one thing that is for certain is how he is sending a message to the captain.