The longest-tenured member of the Toronto Maple Leafs was elated to be part of the club's first playoff series victory in 19 years, but he wasn't completely satisfied.
Morgan Rielly described his dual mindset after Toronto eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 2-1 overtime win in Game 6 that gave the Maple Leafs their first postseason series victory since 2004.
"It's a mix of being relieved, being extremely happy, being grateful, and all that stuff, but also, you want more," Rielly said. "You want to keep going, you want to keep building, you want to keep pushing for more."
"That's the great thing about our group," the defenseman continued. "We're looking forward to the challenges that are ahead. We're proud of the effort, but, ultimately, we want to keep playing."
Rielly doesn't believe there's a major reason why the team finally broke through after nearly two decades, but the 29-year-old reiterated that he wants to keep it going.
"It's a hard question to answer because there's no one thing that's different, it's just a cumulative group that has really worked hard and learned a lot over the years and has grown together," he said. "We want to win, we're desperate to win, and again, we're not done."
Leafs superstar Auston Matthews also simultaneously expressed relief and a desire for the team to not rest on its laurels.
“I've been here seven years. Mitchy (Marner). Willy (Nylander). Mo (Rielly has) been here 10. Johnny (Tavares) five. Just to get over that hump, it's huge mentally for us," Matthews said. "Just to get that monkey off the back. We don't want to look back now. We just want to keep putting our foot on the gas and keep pressing forward."
Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe echoed those sentiments.
"From Day 1 of the season, we haven't talked about winning the first round," he said. "We're trying to win the Stanley Cup. ... So, we're not going to celebrate as though we've won anything beyond just the first round (Saturday night), but it is a significant step for our team. So, we'll enjoy it tonight."
Toronto will face either the Boston Bruins or Florida Panthers in the second round. Game 7 of that series is scheduled for Sunday night.
