#6 – Connor Brown Scores GWG to Help Clinch Playoff Spot – April 8th, 2017
For the sixth goal on this list, we’re going to revisit the same game that featured Auston Matthews’ 40th marker.
This game against the Penguins was adrenaline pumping, to say the least.
A win would send them to the playoffs with their revamped core only a year after finishing dead last.
And the game came in exciting fashion. Down 3-2 with five minutes remaining in the third period, Kasperi Kapanen would score his first NHL goal against the team that drafted him.
And then came this goal.
Jake Gardiner receives the puck at the point, and with 2:48 remaining in the game, Connor Brown would tip Gardiner’s shot home to give the Leafs the lead and ultimately send them to the playoffs.
The Leafs’ rebuild was the centrepiece of many stories over the years, and the playoff clinch meant the world to the team and it’s fans at the time.
And for someone like Connor Brown, who grew up in Toronto and a Leafs fan, scoring the goal to help your childhood team to the playoffs is a timeless memory.
And you can see his excitement following the goal.