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Morgan Rielly makes his feelings known about facing Senators for first time since serving five-game suspension

Modified Nov 12, 2024 15:08 GMT

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly shared his thoughts about facing the Ottawa Senators for the first time since his suspension. The suspension followed an incident in February when Rielly cross-checked Senators forward Ridly Greig after he scored an empty-net goal to seal Ottawa’s 5-3 win.

“That’s not the way that I intended it to go, but it’s in the past and it’s an opportunity to learn from it and move forward,” Rielly said on Monday, per Ottawa Sun.

Rielly doesn’t expect any lasting tension from the incident as the teams meet again.

“I don’t [expect emotional carryover], but whatever happens, happens,” Rielly said.

Also read: Morgan Rielly gets handed five-game suspension

This season, Rielly has started well with 12 points in 16 games. He’s been playing effectively alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who he praised for his strong defensive skills and physicality.

He’s extremely good defensively and has a great stick,” Rielly said.

Rielly’s focus remains on moving forward and maintaining his good form with the Leafs.

Morgan Rielly's contribution and Maple Leafs' big win over Habs

Morgan Rielly played a key role in the Maple Leafs' 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday as he assisted on a power play goal. He led his team with 21:08 minutes on the ice, his most in four games.

Conor Timmins scored first for Toronto at 14:55 in the first period. His shot deflected off a Montreal player, which gave the Leafs a 1-0 lead.

“I fanned on the puck, and then instincts took over,” Timmins said after the game, via NHL.com.

William Nylander made it 2-0 with a power-play goal early in the second period. Rielly assisted, marking his 400th NHL assist. Mitch Marner pushed the lead to 3-0 with a short-handed goal, thanks to a pass from David Kampf.

Montreal scored via Brendan Gallagher's power-play goal to make it 3-1. John Tavares responded for Toronto with another power play goal, restoring a three-goal lead at 12:15 in the second.

Leafs coach Craig Berube talked about his team's smart play, especially on the power play.

“Very good. I thought we checked extremely well for two periods," Berube said, via NHL.com. "The power play was good again. Clean pretty much with penalties and I thought we played a real smart game. I was really happy. Third period they made a little push but our goalie was really good for us.”

This was Toronto's third straight game with at least two power play goals, improving its success rate to 20.8%.

Morgan Rielly and the Maple Leafs will face the Senators on Tuesday. The game will start at 7:00 p.m. EST.