KANATA, ONT. – The adversity facing the Toronto Maple Leafs this month will be ratcheted up a notch if No. 1 defenceman Morgan Rielly is unable to play.
Rielly suffered an upper-body injury when he fell awkwardly on his right arm during the second period of Thursday’s 3-2 loss in Philadelphia. Rielly returned to that game but saw limited ice time.
The defenceman sat out Friday’s practice. He returned to the ice during Saturday’s optional morning skate but left earlier than the rest of his teammates.
Rielly will be re-evaluated, according to coach Mike Babcock, but his availability for Saturday’s game against the Ottawa Senators is in doubt.
"He’s been our backbone. He leads the charge on the back end, night in and night out, so we’re hoping he can go," said teammate Connor Brown.
Right wing Brown, who has scored breakaway goals in consecutive outings, is slated for a promotion to the third line, while Mitch Marner moves down to Brown’s spot on the fourth line.
Should Rielly not dress, the Leafs’ projected defence pairs are as follows:
Borgman-Hainsey
Gardiner-Carrick
Dermott-Polak
"[Borgman] is very brave as far as going back for pucks first, trying to make plays on the breakout. He’s definitely a good skater," said Hainsey, who practised with the six-foot, 212-pound Swedish rookie.
"He’s like a lot of young defencemen – there’s times you make a mistake, maybe you’re trying to do too much — but overall I think he’s shown a lot of promise so far."
Rielly, who is enjoying a breakout season with 31 points, is Toronto’s best left shot. The club’s best right shot, Nikita Zaitsev, hasn’t played since suffering a broken foot on Dec. 15 against the Detroit Red Wings.
"He’s doing more than any other person would do to get back," Babcock said of Zaitsev. "He’s skating good. I keep saying to the trainers, ‘The science experiment has got to be over,’ but that’s the great thing – I don’t get to decide these things."
The Senators’ top defenceman isn’t at full health, either.
Erik Karlsson did not participate in the Senators’ practices Friday or Saturday due to illness but will skate through his sickness against the Leafs.
Depth centres Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Nate Thompson are both injured, so Ottawa has recalled forward Colin White ahead of the latest edition of the Battle of Ontario.
Ottawa is 2-0 this season against Toronto. The battered Maple Leafs have lost four consecutive one-goal games and are still searching for their first regulation victory of 2018.
"We haven’t played hard enough. We haven’t been detailed enough. We’ve had chances to win every one of these games," Babcock said.
"This is the adversity we needed to dig in here a little bit."
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