All-star defenceman fit to face Lightning at home on Wednesday
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Morgan Rielly is on the cusp of returning to the Maple Leafs lineup.
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As for Mitch Marner, you’re going to have to continue to be patient, Leafs Nation.
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Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said on Tuesday that Rielly is available to play against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena.
Rielly has missed the past four games with an upper-body injury and, though the Leafs’ blue-line crew has been able to hold it together through numerous injuries, of course the club will welcome back the player who annually leads the team in ice time.
Marner has been out since March 7 with a sprained ankle and Keefe has spoken of the desire to get the star winger through another full practice before inserting him into game action.
The Leafs were slated to practise fully on Tuesday before Keefe decided to call it off in order to give his players a rest.
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Marner did skate at the Ford Performance Centre with a handful of teammates, but arduous drills were not the order of the day. Marner has missed the past 11 games.
“We’re just going to feel it out and talk to him and likely make it more of a target for the weekend,” Keefe said of Marner’s return.
That would put Marner in line to play in Montreal against the Canadiens on Saturday. After a scheduled day off on Thursday, the Leafs are slated to practise on Friday before flying to Montreal.
Back to Rielly, who didn’t want to discuss the nature of his injury, which he suffered on March 24.
“I feel good,” Rielly said. “It’s just about trying to make sure you’re right for the playoffs. It’s challenging (to get up to speed without a lot of recent practice time).
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“It takes a lot of hard work, but we have a great staff here to help. I think it’s a good exercise and a good opportunity to learn.”
A win against the Lightning and the Leafs would clinch a playoff spot for the eighth consecutive season, tying them with the Boston Bruins for the longest current streak in the National Hockey League.
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One reason they’ve been able to have success again is the ability to get by with what has been a patchwork defence corps at times. Among all Leafs, only forwards William Nylander and Max Domi have played in every game this season.
As the absences pertain to the blue line, the group still is without Joel Edmundson (undisclosed) and Timothy Liljegren (upper body).
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Because of those injuries — and the fact that the Leafs are comfortable in using any of their nine D-men when all are healthy — Keefe isn’t stressed about settling on specific pairs before the playoffs begin.
“I think we can get closer to that, but if we learned anything, it’s that we’ve got nine defencemen that can play and do a good job,” Keefe said. “We’ve got time left. We don’t know who’s going to be healthy, who’s not going to be, we don’t know who our (first-round) opponent is going to be.
“All these things will play themselves out. We’ve got nine players on defence that have all played against good teams, have all helped us win games and have been flexible in who they’ve played with and what the roles have been. The time we have left will help us make those appropriate decisions.”
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Rielly has watched his teammates in the defence corps with admiration, initially during a five-game suspension in February and now during his injury.
“A stretch like this where you miss some people is a good chance for (others) to get in the lineup and to play more minutes and take more responsibility,” Rielly said. “This has been a good example of that and our depth, and it’s always a good sign going into the playoffs.”
The Leafs are doubling down on the positives of the by-committee approach with the D-men. In a perfect world, there would be an obvious top pair along with a shut-down pair (if not the same duo), but this is what the Leafs have.
“It allows you to spread out the minutes and the responsibilities,” Keefe said. “It keeps everybody in a regular rhythm. There’s the confidence that the coaching staff shows in the players to go out and play against anybody. We’re going to be in the situation where we can trust guys to play in different spots. Almost every single (defenceman) has had to play against top competition to help us get through tough situations.
“I don’t think there’s a clear pairing that you’d say needs to absolutely play in this situation. The group is optimized where they’re sharing the responsibility, and then the forwards have to be connected to it as well to do the job.”
X: @koshtorontosun
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