It was only one game but seeing Mike Reilly play north of 20 minutes for the Montreal Canadiens is another token of trust Claude Julien has in his youth.
What do you do after a game ends? Probably turn off a monitor, turn to your neighbour and discuss, or immediately search for the post-game scrums. There’s most likely a large portion of you that check the nightly stats afterwards. The stats after the most recent Montreal Canadiens game were nice to look at. Nikita Scherbak had a goal, Jonathan Drouin had a goal and an assist, and Noah Juulsen saw north of 18 minutes of ice time including 2:32 on the penalty kill.
Those examples were nice, but there was something else that had more of a, ‘WHAT!?’ reaction. Mike Reilly, in his debut with the Habs, played 22:56 against the New York Islanders including 1:01 on the power play. If you asked Claude Julien, he’d argue that isn’t the case. An article by the Montreal Gazette included some quotes from the Canadiens head coach voicing his ‘disbelief’ of that time total for Reilly.
"We looked at the game stats there and we’re not sold on the times here. I’m trying to be honest here. I’m not sold on what I saw here, so maybe it will be corrected by tomorrow. But he still had a fair amount of ice time and he played well. But I don’t think those are too, too accurate right now."
However, like the rest of the article details, the official game sheet had the time of 22:56. If you look at NHL.com, Hockey-Reference.com, or NaturalStatTrick.com, to name a few, all have the same number. That amount of time on ice is a career high for Reilly. The most he’s played before then was 17:31 in an October game against the Vancouver Canucks back when he was still with the Minnesota Wild.
It doesn’t seem too much of a jump, but it’s a considerable difference for a defenceman. That being said, the 24-year-old played very well, and his skating and vision were noticeable on the ice. It was just one game, and it’s an unfair comparison, but Joseph Morrow had good games here and there as well. However, Reilly is a lot more poised and calm, even in the few moments where he made a mistake.
Although he spent the majority of his time on the bottom pair with the Wild, it doesn’t mean that’s the place he has to stay with the Habs. Reilly’s young enough where there are a lot more layers to be peeled back. He’s 15 games shy of his 100th NHL game, but if he continues to play his style and make minor adjustments, he could be one of the greater additions to Montreal’s blueline.