Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly says his team cannot be complacent if it wishes to maintain its recent run of good form.
After struggling to meet expectations at the start of the year, including numerous instances where they fell to last place in the Eastern Conference, the Leafs enter Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens on a three-game win streak and only two points out of third place in the Atlantic Division. They have been playing their best hockey of the season and showing signs of the team that many anticipated going into the year, with contributions up and down the lineup.
“ I think there’s a level of desperation for obvious reasons. And I think the results were good,” Rielly said to reporters on the biggest takeaways after the six-game road trip. ”If you look at the Washington game, I think there’s some stuff that you’d want back. But we come back home here, we must keep that desperation and that urgency so we’ll look to do that tonight. We’re not taking our foot off the gas; we have to keep playing well and keep building up our game.”
That road trip in question saw the Leafs compile a record of 4-2-0, and Rielly felt that the team was playing motivated to keep up the pace with the Eastern Conference. It is far from ideal to be in their position where they are fighting to stay in the hunt, but the gap is far from insurmountable, and there is more than enough talent to get them over the line.
It won’t be easy, especially without the services of Joseph Woll, who was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury ahead of the morning skate.
“ Honestly, I think you try not to worry about who’s in or who’s out too much in that position,” Rielly said. “ It’s a team game. Auston [Matthews] has been out, Chris [Tanev] has been out. You try not to worry about personnel, you gotta go in there and do your job.”
Dennis Hildeby will be taking over as the starter for the time being, to whom Rielly praised for how the netminder handled a tricky situation being thrust into action with little time to prepare. The veteran defenceman made it clear that the Leafs won’t change the way they play with Hildeby in the crease; they have to stay focused on the task at hand and play good hockey.
Rielly was also asked about how it felt going into his 900th career NHL game, to which he responded with some humour when asked if the team had made any hats to celebrate the milestone.
“ It’s bullshit,” Rielly joked to a room of laughter. “ No, again, it’s just one of those things. I’ve been lucky to be here for as long as I have, and I just try not to take anything for granted. It’s just been a lot of fun.”
PRESENTED BY OFF THE ROSTER
