Morgan Rielly is off to quite the start this season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and fans are likely to recall his contributions to begin the year — through the Leafs’ first five games, Rielly had already amassed three goals and 12 points.
Though of course there was no way to sustain that pace, Rielly continues to contribute, and with his seventh goal of the season coming against the New Jersey Devils on Friday, he has also managed a statistical feat that no other Leafs defenseman has accomplished in over 30 years.
Al Iafrate! There’s a nice little time capsule.
However, that seventh goal of the season for Rielly came with a bit of luck, as it was more of a soft floater from the blueline, certainly a goal that wasn’t expected to go in. As some fans have noted, Rielly even felt prompted to apologize to Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid after the fact — it can’t be fun to be embarrassed with Martin Brodeur in the crowd.
Well, a goal is still a goal, and records are still records!
