Leafs' Rielly credits "good karma" from Easter Seals kids for breaking his goal drought

There’s a clear sense of relief for Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly.

It may have taken 36 games into the season for the 28-year-old defenceman to find the back of the net, but the native of North Vancouver broke the scoreless season with a tally against the Washington Capitals en route to a 5-1 Toronto win on Sunday evening.

On Saturday at the Maple Leafs’ annual Easter Seals skate, children asked Rielly why he hadn’t scored this season.

“Got some good karma yesterday from Easter Seals, was out with those guys a lot, smiling, and I think that’s what it was,” he told reporters post-game. “I wouldn’t call it a promise [to score], more of a hopeful guess, but that’s about it.”

You can feel the relief

Morgan Rielly gets his first of the season with a beauty against Washingtonpic.twitter.com/ZcFkwUmNMJ

— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) January 29, 2023

It was his first regular season goal since April 7, 2022 (though he’d scored three times in Toronto’s playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning last year).

While breaking his 46-game regular season goalless drought was a relief, it hasn’t been a poor season for Toronto’s once most prolific defenceman.

Through 35 games, Rielly had gotten to the end of 21 assists, and has played significant minutes for Toronto as they’ve settled into second place in the Atlantic Division.

“The guys were excited on the bench,” said head coach Sheldon Keefe. “It was a big goal for us; first of all, but Mo is an important player on our team. For him to have a bit of relief, there is felt throughout the team.”

As Rielly looked up to the heavens in celebration after breaking his dry spell, the rest of his teammates took it in stride, hoping it may re-invigorate the once 20-goal scorer ahead of the season’s post-All-Star break stretch run.

“So happy for him,” Ilya Samsonov said. “Probably gets some confidence for him.”

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While Rielly’s goal meant a lot to the group, for the man himself, it was just another step in his season and to getting a valuable win for captain John Tavares, playing his 1000th game in the NHL.

“Important to us to play well for Johnny,” Rielly said. “He’s worked extremely hard in his career to get to this point.”

With their top defenceman’s re-discovered goal-scoring form, the Leafs take on the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night, their final game before the NHL All-Star break.