Maple Leafs Lose Morgan Rielly to Injury in Win Over Canucks - Defensive Woes Continue
The Toronto Maple Leafs finally snapped their six-game skid with a gritty 3-2 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. But even in victory, the team took a significant hit - veteran defenseman Morgan Rielly exited the game with an upper-body injury and did not return.
Head coach Craig Berube confirmed after the game that Rielly will require further evaluation, and there’s currently no timeline for his return. And while the exact moment of the injury wasn’t clear, the decision to pull Rielly mid-game may have been as much about performance as it was about precaution.
Rielly logged just 12:34 of ice time before being removed, and it was a rough outing by any measure. He struggled to keep pace, looked slow on loose pucks, and was routinely beaten in one-on-one matchups - not by Vancouver’s top-line talent, but by depth players. It was a tough watch for a player who’s long been a cornerstone of Toronto’s blue line.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t an isolated performance. Rielly has had a difficult season defensively, and the numbers back it up.
He leads the entire NHL in 5-on-5 goals against while on the ice - 63 in total. That’s a staggering stat for a top-pairing defenseman.
While his offensive contributions (seven goals and 31 points through 53 games) are respectable, they haven’t been enough to offset the defensive lapses. Simply put, the Leafs have been giving up too much when Rielly is on the ice.
That’s a tough pill to swallow for a team that’s already been struggling to find consistency, especially in its own zone. Rielly has long been relied on to eat big minutes and drive play from the back end, but this season, the balance has tilted too far in the wrong direction.
Still, the Leafs found a way to win - and they needed it. Nicolas Roy and Max Domi chipped in with timely goals, and William Nylander, back in the lineup, sealed the deal in the shootout. It wasn’t pretty, but it was enough to halt a six-game losing streak and give the team a much-needed jolt of momentum.
Now, the focus shifts to Rielly’s status. If he’s out for any extended period, Toronto’s already-thin blue line will be stretched even further. The team will need others to step up in a big way - both defensively and in terms of leadership - while Rielly recovers.
For a team with playoff aspirations, the margin for error is shrinking. And if the Leafs are going to make a serious push, they’ll need to tighten things up defensively - with or without their top defenseman on the ice.