TORONTO – Mike Babcock had warned about something like this.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs coach was dropping pieces of advice like “just chill” and “let’s not get carried away” this week, he did so knowing that something as simple as one unexpected injury might interrupt the positive momentum his team has carried into the second half.
The Leafs may have weathered Morgan Rielly’s absence for 50-plus minutes on Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres, but they’ll be facing a monumental task if his lower-body injury requires them to do it over the long term.
That won’t be known until Wednesday at the earliest, when trainers have an opportunity to get a better look at his right leg.
“I don’t know if he’s out a week or 10 days or a month,” Babcock said after a 4-3 win over Buffalo. “I have no clue.”
It didn’t look too good when Rielly’s right leg got caught under his body after a collision with Sabres forward William Carrier. The 22-year-old went to the dressing room, returned for a 41-second shift and then called it a night.
The outlook seemed a little more positive when he came out to chat with former teammate Cody Franson in the hallway after the game. Rielly was wearing his suit and showed no obvious signs of a limp as he walked.
Jake Gardiner, who swallowed up serious minutes in Rielly’s absence, also indicated that his close friend was in good spirits when he checked up on him during the intermission.
“I don’t know – he was the same old Morgan, I guess,” said Gardiner.
We’ll see.
The mere glimpse of life without him on the ice for a night was a reminder of just how thin the margin can be. Rielly missed only 10 games over his first three NHL seasons and each was when he was made a healthy scratch.
He has since emerged as the Leafs’ No. 1 defenceman, averaging a team-high 22:50 of ice time while playing against top competition.
Given the circumstances, the Leafs managed to piece things together nicely against Buffalo by leaning heavily on the two other left-handed defencemen remaining in the lineup: Gardiner and Matt Hunwick.
The breakdown of Gardiner’s career-high 29:24 underlines the ripple effect playing with only five healthy options had. The Leafs have enjoyed stability with their pairings during the current 9-1-1 run, but Babcock needed to get out the blender on Tuesday night:
· Gardiner-Nikita Zaitsev (10:22)
· Gardiner-Connor Carrick (9:28)
· Gardiner-Roman Polak (5:10)
· Gardiner-Hunwick (2:07)
Fortunately, Gardiner’s work load was made a little easier by the fact the Leafs controlled possession while rallying from a 2-0 first-period deficit.
“I think our forwards did a good job of playing in their end,” said Gardiner. “Once [Morgan] went out, that was part of our game plan. We just wanted to make simple plays and get it in their zone.”
“I thought Gardiner and Zaitsev really were great tonight, stepped up,” added Babcock. “I thought (Hunwick) had a solid game; actually all of them were pretty good. We didn’t spend a ton of time in our zone, which was positive, but Mo’s a huge factor.”
The Leafs aren’t exactly flush with plug-and-play options if Rielly is out for an extended period.
Lefty Martin Marincin has been working his way back from a lower-body injury suffered on Dec. 10, but there’s no firm timetable on his return. Beyond that, they have right-handed Frankie Corrado, who is fresh off a seven-game conditioning stint in the American Hockey League.
Ultimately, they may be forced to pick up the slack by committee – something this young group hasn’t had to contend with previously while sitting in the bottom-third of the NHL in man games lost this season.
“We’ve had lots of success this year with no injuries – our medical staff’s done a real nice job – and injuries wear you down,” said Babcock. “And then what happens when you get injuries you play fewer guys more and then it usually leads to more. So we’ve got to manage this well.”
Fortunately, they’ve managed to put a fair number of points in the bank already. Toronto is now one point behind Boston for second in the Atlantic Division with five games in hand.
Determining the extent of Rielly’s injury will be of utmost importance in the short term while Babcock cobbles together a triage game plan for Thursday’s visit from the Rangers if he’s unavailable to play.
That obviously isn’t a scenario anyone in the Leafs dressing room wants to face right now, but the veteran coach won’t blink if that’s his fate.
After all, he warned us there were bumps to come in the road.
