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Morgan Rielly suffers lower-body injury in win vs. Sabres (Video)

TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 17: Morgan Rielly #44 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against William Carrier #48 of the Buffalo Sabres during the first period at the Air Canada Centre on January 17, 2017 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Graig Abel/NHLI via Getty Images)
Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against William Carrier of the Buffalo Sabres during the first period at the Air Canada Centre on January 17, 2017 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Getty Images)

Early in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres, defenseman Morgan Rielly fell awkwardly on his right leg and did not return after the play.

In the first period, as Rielly skated the puck up ice and out of his own zone, Sabres forward William Carrier tried to strip it off Rielly and took out the defenseman. Rielly’s right leg appeared to get caught under his own body before he slammed into the boards. He took one more shift but left with a lower-body injury.

Rielly is the Maple Leafs’ top defenseman and had averaged a team-high 22:51 of ice-time heading into Tuesday. He has one goal and 16 assists in 42 games played. Because of Rielly’s injury, Jake Gardiner played 29:24 in Tuesday’s game and Matt Hunwick played a total of 27:32.

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The injury bug has yet to take a big bite out of the Maple Leafs, which is partially why they’re in the top three of the Atlantic Division. This is something they acknowledged after the game.

“Our medical staff has done a real nice job, but injuries wear you down,” coach Mike Babcock said. “What happens when you get injured is you play fewer guys more and it usually leads to more. We’ve got to manage this well. I don’t know if he’s out a week or 10 days or a month. I don’t have a clue.”

The Athletic pointed out some worry based off Rielly’s injury history and the way his right leg twisted as he went down to the ice.

One potential concern with this injury is the fact that Rielly tore the ACL in his right knee in his draft year with the Moose Jaw Warriors. That injury cost him most of the 2011-12 season in the WHL.

Babcock said the team would know more about Rielly’s status Wednesday.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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