Morgan Rielly reinforces the positives and the need to believe after Leafs’ loss to Blackhawks

“I think it always comes down to execution. I know for a fact that the compete level, the desire, is there,” Rielly said to reporters after the game. “At times it might be too much, so you start squeezing the stick, you start overthinking things because you just want to do the thing and win the game.  But I think at the end of the day, it comes down to execution. If we can execute better, you limit the chances against and one thing leads to another.”

The lack of confidence in their game was evident in the third period, when the Leafs were in a position to close things out and end the slump. There were plenty of extended shifts hemmed in their own end, and Woll could only do so much to stop the bleeding.

Rielly had his moments in this contest with his goal in the second period giving the Leafs the lead, but was also on the ice for the tying goal from Teuvo Teravainen where he didn’t do enough to deny the scoring chance.

“Whenever you’re in something that’s challenging, it’s all-consuming and it can feel that way,” he said when asked if this is the toughest test he has faced as a Leaf in this era. “But there’s a lot of belief with our team, and that’s powerful.  So it’s a tough one to answer.”

Keeping the faith when times are tough is certainly commendable, especially since there have been enough signs of the type of team the Leafs are capable of being shown in flashes. But the moral victories can only take them so far because they ultimately did not do enough to get the victory and once again extend their sluggish start to the season.

“I think there’s just little things right now.  We’re having a hard time obviously closing games out,” Rielly said. “When you’re going through a stretch like that, it’s almost self-fulfilling.  It’s just little mistakes that are costing us.  I think overall, the game tonight, the way we played, we had some good things going on and we put ourselves in a position to be in a close game and to have the lead. So that’s good, but we have to kind of get over the hump here and start closing games out.”

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