The Toronto Maple Leafs got their top defenseman back Wednesday as Morgan Rielly (upper-body injury) played and had an assist against the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.
Rielly tallied the assist on an Auston Matthews power-play goal in the first period. But the Maple Leafs were shut out the rest of the way in a 4-1 loss.
The 30-year-old Rielly had missed the past four games but skated at practice Monday and Tuesday. He entered Tuesday tied for 10th among NHL defensemen with 51 points (seven goals, 44 assists) and leads the Maple Leafs in ice time at 23:48 per game.
He played 23:14 on Wednesday.
Leafs forward Mitchell Marner, who has missed 12 straight games with an ankle injury, skated again Tuesday but likely won't return until Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens. Marner, 26, has 76 points (25 goals, 51 assists) in 62 games this season.
Over 11 seasons, Rielly has 466 points (80 goals, 386 assists) in 785 games after the Maple Leafs selected him with the No. 5 pick in the 2012 draft.
In his eighth season with Toronto, Marner -- the No. 4 pick in the 2015 draft -- has 630 points (193 goals, 437 assists) in 569 games.
Toronto (43-23-9, 95 points) are four points behind the second-place Florida Panthers (47-24-5, 99 points) in the Atlantic Division.
Field Level Media contributed to this report.