Leafs' Matthew Knies issues stern warning to rival Ridly Greig for 'annoying' cross-check on John Tavares

By Jackson Weber

Modified Apr 21, 2025 19:03 GMT

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Ridly Greig appears to have already cemented himself as enemy number one amongst the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans.

The gritty Senators forward was heavily involved in Game 1 on Sunday night, scoring a goal while also being very physical with Toronto's best players. Greig took a massive run at William Nylander near the end of the first period and then delivered a cross-check to the jaw of John Tavares early in the middle frame.

He was originally handed a five-minute major penalty, though it was downgraded to a two-minute minor following video review. Either way, the Maple Leafs took note of his antics, and Matthew Knies is ensuring they won't forget about them as the series goes on.

TSN Maple Leafs reporter Mark Masters shared on X (formerly Twitter) what Knies had to say about Ridly Greig on Monday afternoon.

"It’s definitely annoying. We’re going to play hard on him & not make it easy for him the rest of the way," Knies said.

Ridly Greig is in the final season of his three-year, $2,590,000 entry-level contract with the Senators. He signed a four-year, $13,000,000 extension in January to remain in Ottawa for the foreseeable future. The 2020 first-round pick (28 overall) produced a career-best 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 78 games this season.

Ridly Greig has become quite the agitator for the Ottawa Senators

As was evident in Game 1, Ridly Greig seems to do a pretty good job of getting under his opponent's skin.

The 22-year-old notably took a slap shot into the empty net to cap off their final meeting with Toronto during the 2023-24 season. Morgan Rielly was not fond of it and cross-checked him to the side of the head, resulting in a five-game suspension.

In Game 1 on Sunday, Greig was getting his licks in on the Maple Leafs' star players. He also drove the net and slid hard into goaltender Anthony Stolarz late in the third period, which former NHLer, now Sportsnet analyst, Kevin Bieksa said was '100% intentional.' But don't expect Ridly Greig to make any changes to his game; he'll be at the forefront of the nastiness between these two teams all series long.

Game 2 of the Battle of Ontario will go down on Tuesday night as the Toronto Maple Leafs once again host the Ottawa Senators. The puck drops at 7 p.m. EDT at Scotiabank Arena.