The NHL handed Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly a five-game suspension for his “intentional, forceful strike” to Senators forward Ridly Greig’s head over the weekend. 

The announcement followed an in-person hearing for Rielly that occurred Tuesday in New York. 

The blue-liner went out of his way to strike Greig after the center scored an empty-net goal to seal a Senators win on Saturday night.

Rielly took exception to the manner in which Greig fired the puck into the vacant net and launched the vicious cross-checking assault on Greig as he started to turn around and celebrate. 

“As he does so, Rielly skates towards Greig with purpose and for some distance. Raises his stick high with both hands and intentionally strikes Greig in the head with substantial force,” the league explained in a video put out explaining the suspension. 

The league explained that the incident was a cross-check that warranted supplemental discipline since it was not an “inadvertent or accidental use of the stick while leveraging for body position or for other hockey proposes.”

The NHL deemed that the cross-check had occurred well after the play concluded and occurred for the “sole purpose of retribution.” 

“Rielly pursues Greig for some time and has sufficient opportunity to choose to engage him in a different manner,” the video goes on to explain. “Or ensure that this cross-check is delivered solely to the body. Instead, fully in control of this play at all times, Rielly chooses to raise his stick to the level of Greig’s head and kneck.” 

It added: “In short, this is not a hockey play. This is an intentional, forceful strike to an opponent’s head using a stick as a weapon to exact retribution on an opponent well after a goal has been scored.”

The Senators-Leafs game on Saturday was particularly intense, and emotions seemed to get the better of everyone, and the Leafs were not shy about trying to place the blame on Greig and defend Rielly’s actions. 

After the game, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe called Rielly’s reaction “appropriate,” and star Auston Matthews opined Monday that Greig’s action “definitely deserved a reaction.” 

The Leafs and Senators are not scheduled to meet again this season.