While there have been several nailbiters between the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs in recent years, the games themselves could’ve been termed mild skirmishes at best. That is until, in one fell swoop, Senators rookie Ridly Greig’s slapshot into a yawning cage to ice their 5-3 victory quite possibly re-ignited the Battle of Ontario it once was.
Distant memories of the days of Senators’ captain Daniel Alfredsson’s thunderous playoff hit to Maple Leafs’ Darcy Tucker, subsequently scoring seconds after “Alfie’s” feigning stick toss, multiple disappointing postseason losses to the Blue and White, “The kid (Chris Neil) spit on him,” among them.
What Greig was thinking at the exact moment the 21-year-old wound up his clapper is unknown.
Was it just an exuberant youngster putting an exclamation point on the win or breaking the “code” of disrespecting an opponent? The Senators’ seventh in 11 games, procuring points in nine of those outings (7-2-2).
Was it Greig’s way of taking the sails out of thousands of Leafs’ fans who invaded the Canadian Tire Centre?
Whatever it was, did it warrant the response from Maple Leafs Morgan Rielly?
Rielly bore down on the Senators’ scorer immediately after the puck entered the net, raising his stick and sending a cross-check toward the facial area of Greig.
Feeling Greig showed up his team, the Maple Leafs captain and top defenseman’s actions will now likely face a suspension of five games or more due to the NHL’s Department of Player Safety offering Rielly an in-person at a date to be determined.
As for the Maple Leafs, the absence of Rielly leaves his club in a precarious spot in a tight playoff race.
Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe, during his postgame availability, told TSN’s Claire Hanna, “I thought it was appropriate,” adding, “It’s pretty apparent” when discussing Rielly’s reaction.
When asked if Rielly’s misdirected pass attempt, which led to the Senators’ late first-period game-tying goal by Claude Giroux, had any effect on the Maple Leafs d-man at the game’s conclusion, Keefe responded, “No, I think he’s reacting to a play. Their player (Ridly Greig) has the right to do what he wants in the moment. Players have the right to react. It’s the motions of the game. That’s the way it goes.”
Greig, who plays on the edge, is quickly becoming a Senators’ fan favourite in his “superpest” role. The freshman forward currently leads all NHL rookies with a plus-19, posting a plus-4 Saturday in a personal-high 19 minutes of ice time while registering eight goals and 11 assists in 38 games.
Senators’ interim head coach Jacques Martin came to his player’s defence, “I mean, whether he pushes it, shoots it, I mean it shouldn’t matter.” Additionally, bestowing praise on Greig, who Martin put on the ice, along with linemates Shane Pinto and Vlad Tarasenko, who each netted a goal on the night. Pinto finished with a career-best three points (one goal, two assists).
“I just thought that he (Greig) was strong defensively. And you know, I think when you look, I think he finished a plus-four. So to me, that’s an indication that he’s pretty responsible. You know, he’s physical, and I think what I like is that he’s basically a centre. And having him out there, if a centre gets kicked out, then we have another centre that takes some face offs,” Martin said.
36-year-old Claude Giroux has seen a lot in his 1,243 total games played and wasn’t surprised by Rielly’s misstep.
“Yeah, I mean, the emotions sometimes will get to you, and you know, it was an intense game, and all the fans were involved. You know, sometimes that kind of stuff happens. Obviously, I don’t like see him (Greig) hit in the face there. But, you know, there’s not much really to say sometimes. That kind of stuff happens,” Giroux explained.
Greig’s linemate offered up a bit of humour on the entire situation, “”Rids” play, it was pretty funny. So yeah, that was interesting,” Pinto noted.
“It was just a tough play all around. So I mean, you know, they thought they had to do that. And I just hope I Ridly is okay.”
Senators’ Josh Norris, who broke a 14-game goalless drought, also expressed his opinion on the incident.
“Yeah, I mean, you never really know what “Greigor” is gonna do. I mean, I loved it. But I’m sure, obviously, if we’re on the other side of that, I don’t know if we would like it either. I didn’t really like the retaliation, but I understand their frustration, but it’s over with, and I guess it was entertaining.”
With the season series ending in favour of the Senators three games to one, the two teams will have to wait until next season to get re-acquainted with what’s hoped to be a reinvigorated Battle of Ontario.
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