Toronto Maple Leafs top defenseman Morgan Rielly returned from a six game absence against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night. Reilly went down before the All-Star break with an ankle injury.
Toronto went 2-2-1 without Rielly. He has 17 points in 42 games this season. He’s averaging over 23 minutes per game this season. He played just over 18 minutes Thursday night.
Morgan Rielly Returns; Toronto Maple Leafs Continue to Struggle
Rielly’s return did not solve the Leafs losing woes. Toronto set their longest regulation losing streak of the season Thursday. They have dropped three straight games in regulation, their longest stretch without a point this season.
It started just before the All-Star break when the Leafs fell 2-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers. Since then, the struggles have gotten worse.
On Tuesday, the Leafs fell 6-3 to the Dallas Stars, surrendering five goals in the first period. After, the team followed it up with a miserable 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Toronto has given up 11 goals in their last two games.
Big Game on Saturday Night
The Maple Leafs visit the Boston Bruins Saturday night. The Bruins sit three points ahead of the Leafs for third in the Atlantic Division, having played five more games.
Now comes the real test, one the Leafs haven’t faced all season long, adversity. Throughout this season, the Leafs have remained healthy and haven’t dealt with any major injuries or lengthy losing streaks.
Toronto is a young and developing team, so it’s good for all the kids to get the experience of a ‘team slump.’
The Maple Leafs need to address the issues quickly though, or their schedule advantage will disappear. They have five games at hand on the Boston Bruins, who they trail for the last playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
Also, they have 33 games left to be played in 65 days. That leaves 32 days off.
Toronto need to reap the rewards of a somewhat regular schedule now, before things get hectic again.
They have three sets of back-to-back home and away games in February, plus two more in March and April. They end their season with a week of five games in six nights. Their final four games are against the Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, Columbus Blue Jackets and the defending champions the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Main Photo:
OTTAWA, ON – JANUARY 21: Nazem Kadri #43 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his third-period, power-play goal with teammate Morgan Rielly #44 against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on January 21, 2015 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images)
