from Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun,

In the third period, Rielly collided with Islanders forward Nick Palmieri and fell to the ice, clutching his left knee. Rielly tried to take another shift but then departed the game.

In going on LTIR, Rielly will miss at least 10 games and 24 days.

The Leafs recalled defencemen Victor Mete and Mac Hollowell from the Toronto Marlies.

Already without veterans TJ Brodie (oblique) and Jake Muzzin (neck), the Leafs couldn’t afford to lose another defenceman, and certainly not Rielly. He annually leads the Leafs’ defence corps in ice time and is at the top of the pack again this season, playing an average of 23 minutes a game.

Next among defencemen is Brodie at 21 minutes 23 seconds, and then Justin Holl at 20:45.

“It’s tough,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game on Monday, before the club knew the extent of Rielly’s injury.

“We’re already missing guys and Morgan is so important to our team and our back end in particular. But we lose Muzzin, we made a big deal of it, it was not a big deal. Brodie, we made a big deal of it, it was not a big deal. Just have to keep playing. That’s the way it goes.”

more

Video of the injury is below.