Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube praised defenseman Morgan Rielly for defending goaltender Joseph Woll during Tuesday’s loss to the New York Islanders.
Rielly dropped the gloves with Islanders forward Kyle MacLean after MacLean collided with Woll in the crease.
Morgan Rielly and Kyle MacLean drop the gloves
Rielly didn’t like the contact MacLean made with Joseph Woll pic.twitter.com/mM8daesoz3
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 18, 2026
“It’s a great job by him getting in there and sticking up for Joseph. Obviously, that message has gotten across.”
The Maple Leafs faced criticism after none of their players responded to Radko Gudas’ knee-on-knee hit on Auston Matthews last week.
The collision ended Matthews’ season. The Anaheim Ducks defenseman received a five-game suspension.
Rielly was on the ice when Matthews got injured. He took responsibility for not reacting to the incident.
Berube said he’s noticed a change in the defenseman over the past three games.
“It’s been a tough year for him, we all know that. He took that personally against Matthews. Like I said, it’s not just on Mo or this guy, it’s everybody. They all should have been in there right away. I think that they’ve obviously learned from it, and it’s been a difference now.”
Forward Steven Lorentz called the aftermath of the Matthews hit a wake-up call for the team.
“It’s definitely got guys’ attention. I mean, it got the hockey world’s attention, right? And we were disappointed in ourselves and how we handled that situation,”
he told Sportsnet’s Luke Fox.
“You hear the outside noise. You know, we’d be lying if we said we don’t hear it. It’s not that we don’t pay attention to it. But we have to do a job, and we know what that is. And at times, we’re human. We get away from it.”
The Maple Leafs are 1-1-1 since Matthews was injured.
