Article content

Morgan Rielly won’t be receiving clemency from the NHL commissioner.

Article content

Gary Bettman ruled Tuesday he was upholding a five-game suspension for the Maple Leafs defenceman, stemming from the Feb. 10 cross-check Rielly delivered on Ottawa’s Ridly Greig after the Senators forward slapped a puck into an empty net to over-emphasize his team’s 5-3 home win.

Article content

“I have closely reviewed the video footage of the incident,” Bettman wrote in his ruling. “Mr. Rielly changed his course and skated towards Mr. Greig with purpose. Covering some distance, (Rielly) raised his stick high and intentionally used the shaft to strike the left side of (Greig’s) head with substantial force.

“As earlier indicated (in the referee’ report and by the Department of Player Safety who assessed the suspension) the entire incident occurred after the goal was scored and game play had effectively ended.”

Article content

Article content

Less than six seconds remained in the heated match. Bettman noted Rielly’s hit differed from regular game action where two players were battling for a puck and some grey area might have mitigated the suspension.

But Bettman said he did “commend Rielly for forthrightly disavowing suggestions that have been made public by others that his actions were somehow appropriate” and added “certainly the conduct leading to this suspension is out of character with his long record of clean play in the NHL.”

Rielly said he was reacting to perceived disrespect on Greig’s part to the Leafs and contended he was not aiming for his opponent’s head, but his shoulder with his stick.

In his statement, Bettman also acknowledged the position of the Leafs and NHL Players Association that Rielly played more than 800 games without being called on the league carpet, that Greig was not seriously injured and five games was harsh compared to similar infractions.

Article content

While few expected Bettman to commute the sentence – he did knock two off a six-game suspension to Toronto’s Jason Spezza in 2021 — only one game remains for Rielly, Wednesday in Arizona. He’s eligible to return Thursday in Vegas against the Golden Knights, but lost close to $200,000 US in salary.

His absence became less of an issue when the Leafs rolled to four wins without him. Yet not having their longest-serving player, highest-scoring defenceman and alternate captain is not a situation they prefer, particularly with Mark Giordano not on the Western road trip on bereavement leave and Conor Timmins getting through a bout of mononucleosis.

The Leafs of the ‘Shanaplan’ era have an odd history of doing well in regular season when their stars are dimmed, with Monday’s win over St. Louis moving them to 30-11-4 when Rielly is out, while also 24-12-0 when star forward Auston Matthews is missing.

Article content

“We play well with Morgan, too,” goaltender Ilya Samsonov reminded. “(But) it’s not about one guy, this is a team sport. It’s hard to say why (the record is skewed), but we need Morgan for sure. I miss him and I think everybody misses him.”

The Leafs had a day off Tuesday and could not comment on Bettman’s decision.

On Monday, both Matthew Knies and William Nylander assured that Rielly’s act of retribution on Ridly resounded well in the dressing room and credited it with firing the team up for the win streak.

[email protected]

X: @sunhornby

Article content