It's still not clear how Rielly was injured, but he'll miss his second consecutive game on Thursday night.
It's still not clear how Rielly was injured, but he'll miss his second consecutive game on Thursday night.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without Morgan Rielly when the club hosts the Washington Capitals on Thursday.
The defenseman last played on Sunday in a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. He spoke to reporters following the game, something that typically doesn't happen if an injury is suspected.
The Maple Leafs revealed that Rielly sustained an upper-body injury shortly before the club took the ice for their pre-game skate ahead of their 6-3 loss top the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
We're hopeful he's going to bounce back here, "Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "The one thing that's good is once he gets through this day or two here, it's not going to be a lingering situation. It's not an injury that's going to be ongoing. Once he's past it, he's past it. So we just need to give him some time."
With Rielly out, the Maple Leafs have kept their defensive pairs intact on Tuesday, and that includes veteran D-man TJ Brodie skating in Rielly's spot alongside Ilya Lyubushkin.
Rielly isn't the only injured defenseman right now. Joel Edmundson has been ruled out for the week with an undisclosed ailment and also did not play Tuesday against the Devils.
Rielly has seven goals and 45 assists in 66 games with the Maple Leafs this season. The 30-year-old leads all Leafs in average ice time at 23:49 per game.
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