The Toronto Maple Leafs were already having a rough night getting dominated by the San Jose Sharks and barely testing Antti Niemi on the shot counter. To make matters even worse, James van Riemsdyk left the game with an injury in the third period after being taken out by his own teammate, Dion Phaneuf.

Via Jeffler at The Leafs Nation:

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Not the greatest decision to go for the big hit while your teammate is busy defending against the intended target. It was so mis-timed and executed from a bad angle that Phaneuf barely even got a piece of Patrick Marleau.

You might remember previous incidents of teammate-on-teammate violence featuring Alex Radulov concussing Jason Arnott during a goal celebration and Keith Ballard almost decapitating Tomas Vokoun after allowing a goal.

JVR did leave the game, but fortunately for the Maple Leafs returned later in the period. We're not sure why, considering the score was 5-1 San Jose. Why risk anything with the game already out of hand?

UPDATE: According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, van Riemsdyk was taken to the "quiet room" and passed the concussion test before coming back into the game.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy