Maple Leafs brace for a stretch without Morgan Rielly, who's expected to be suspended
CTV
The Toronto Maple Leafs are bracing to play their next several games without top defenseman Morgan Rielly, who could be facing a lengthy suspension.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are bracing to play their next several games without top defenseman Morgan Rielly, who could be facing a lengthy suspension.
He has an in-person hearing with the NHL’s department of player safety scheduled for Tuesday in New York. An in-person hearing allows the league to suspend Rielly for six or more games.
Rielly cross-checked Ridly Greig up high in retaliation for the Ottawa Senators player firing a slap shot into an empty net with 5.1 seconds left in the teams' game Saturday night.
“I think it definitely deserved a reaction,” teammate and fellow All-Star Auston Matthews said after practice Monday. “Morgan’s not a malicious player and somebody that’s dirty, by any means. I think him approaching him was something that was just bound to happen. Somebody was going to do it, especially after a play like that. I just don’t think it’s really necessary to go down there and ‘hardest shot competition’ into the net.”
Toronto hosts the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night and plays six games over the next 10 days. If Rielly gets six games, it would match the longest suspension handed out this season.
“I was expecting a fine, a one-game (suspension) max,” Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves said. “The kid got up after, (and he was) completely fine. I think that’s got to be taken into account, too.”
Reaves, 37, called Rielly's reaction “appropriate."
