Maple Leafs must step up with Rielly suspended 5 games, coach says

Morgan Rielly was suspended five games by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Tuesday.

The Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman was disciplined for cross-checking Ottawa Senators forward Ridly Greig in the final seconds of a 5-3 loss in Ottawa on Saturday.

The incident occurred after Greig fired a slap shot into an empty net with six seconds left in the third period. Rielly then skated toward the Senators forward and cross-checked him in the head.

He was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct on the play.

Rielly was scheduled to meet with the Department of Player Safety in New York on Tuesday, but due to a snowstorm, it was changed to a virtual hearing.

The 29-year-old, who leads Maple Leafs defensemen in goals (seven), assists (36), points (43) and time on ice (24:21) in 50 games this season, will not be eligible to return until Feb. 22, when Toronto visits the Vegas Golden Knights.

“First thing is to not try to do too much, not feel like the responsibility is bigger than what you are capable of. It’s more so just getting out there and playing,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said prior to their game against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. “Sometimes, for some players, it just works out better because you are thinking less. You have to go. You don’t have time to get in your head, and if you make a mistake, you’re likely going right back out. … In some cases, too, guys just get really excited about the chance to go out and show they can play.

“Everybody is looking for more opportunity always, whether you are going well or not so well. Guys want to play and want to play a lot. That’s where we are at here, and it’s up to the team to go out and respond.”

This will be Toronto’s first significant stretch without Rielly since Nov. 22-Dec. 28, 2022, when he missed 15 games because of a knee injury. The Maple Leafs went 12-2-1 without him.

“We’ve managed these types of situations when players have left our lineup in the last number of years,” Keefe said. “Morgan left last year with an injury and we thought, ‘This is not good,’ and then we played our best hockey as a team and went on our best stretch. … You never know how these things go, but in the past, our group has stepped up and we are going to need more of the same.”

The Maple Leafs (26-16-8) are currently tied with the Detroit Red Wings for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders.

“We are going to miss a big piece of our lineup, right? So, it’s just up to the [defense] core to step up to make sure his nonpresence won’t be too much of an impact,” Maple Leafs defenseman Simon Benoit said. “Obviously, he’s a good player, and we are obviously going to miss him in the lineup for the amount of games he’s going to miss, but we just have to … do the best we can in the moment.”