Top 10 Memorable Moments From the Toronto Maple Leafs 2019-20 Season
The Toronto Maple Leafs had quite the 2019-20 season. With all that had happened throughout the six months before the season got put on pause, there were lots of good things we can look back at.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs 2019-20 regular season is indeed over it truly stinks. However playoffs are still up in the air and could be played at a later date.
With all the ups and downs this team had this season it was quite the rollercoaster for the fans to be a part of.
With that being said, let’s take a look back at ten good memorable moments from the Toronto Maple Leafs 2019-20 regular season.
10. Morgan Rielly’s OT Winner vs Boston (Oct 19, 2019)
At my number ten spot I have Morgan Rielly’s overtime winner against the Boston Bruins on October 19, 2019.
As most of us thought Mitch Marner scored this goal it apparently tipped off Morgan Rielly’s leg on its way in and beat Rask to give the Toronto Maple Leafs the 4-3 win.
The reason why this game is on my list is because this was the first meeting between these two teams since game 7 of the 2018-19 playoffs, and we all know what happened in that game… again.
The Toronto Maple Leafs jumped to a 2-0 lead before Boston got one back at the end of the first period.
They both exchanged goals within the first three minutes of the second period, and by the last five minutes of the third period the Toronto Maple Leafs had a 3-2 lead until David Pastrnak tied the game at three with his ninth goal of the season in just eight games.
Fast forward to overtime, the Toronto Maple Leafs had their big boys out on the ice cycling the puck until Matthews passed it over to Marner at the point and ripped a shot on net, tipped off Rielly’s leg on the way in and grabbed the two points against their rival Bruins. All around that was a good game to watch. (Stats from NHL.com).
9. Morgan Rielly’s Return Against Tampa Bay (March 10, 2020)
At my number nine spot I have another Morgan Rielly moment, the game he returned to after the injury he sustained in Florida back in early January.
I have this game on this list because of multiple things, to start they won this game 2-1 secondly, they won this game 2-1 against a divisional rival in Tampa Bay, and third they potentially beat their first round matchup for the second time this season in three games.
Getting Morgan Rielly back into the lineup this game was a step in the right direction for the Toronto Maple Leafs as they were hit with a ton of injuries throughout the season. Although two days later we would find out the NHL paused their season due to the COVID-19 outbreak. (Stats from NHL.com).
8. Jake Muzzin Leads Toronto to a 4-0 win Against Pittsburgh (Feb 20, 2020)
At my number eight spot I have one of my favourite games of the season.
The game where the Toronto Maple Leafs bounced back at home with a massive 4-0 over the Pittsburgh Penguins after getting outplayed and embarrassed 48 hours prior in Pittsburgh.
After losing to Pittsburgh on the first half of the home and home Jake Muzzin called out himself and his team for not playing good at all, needing to find themselves and start playing better.
Well safe to say he backed up his words and he helped lead his team to victory as he had quite the night on the stat sheet (1 G – 2 A – 3 PTS – 4 BLKS – 23:02 TOI) en route to a shutout win on home ice. (Stats from NHL.com).
7. Toronto’s Massive 5-2 Win Over the Defending Stanley Cup Champions St.Louis Blues (Dec 7, 2019)
At my number seven spot I have another one of my favourite games of the season, the 5-2 win the Toronto Maple Leafs picked up on the road against the defending cup champions, St. Louis Blues.
This was also one of Toronto’s all around best games of the year, they scored five goals on one of the best teams in the league, Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman both record a two goal night, and Binnington gets yanked from the net.
This win was also a start to one of the Toronto Maple Leafs hottest stretches of the year when they went 11-1-1 in 13 games.
This game also proved that when Toronto gets blown out then can bounce right back and dominate a team too, as the two games prior to this Blues game they lost 6-1 to Philadelphia and 3-1 to Colorado. (Stats from NHL.com).
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – NOVEMBER 02: Andreas Johnsson (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images).
6. Toronto and Philadelphia’s 11 Round Shootout (Nov 2, 2019)
At my number six spot I have a game that was very stressful at times watching this, and it’s the game where the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers went the distance in the shootout… 11 rounds to be specific.
It was a back and forth game goals wise as both teams scored once in each of the three periods but from the third period and into overtime Philadelphia outplayed Toronto and out shot them 19-7 in those 25 minutes of play.
Although the shootout is where the Toronto Maple Leafs got the last laugh as it was a thriller of a shootout as both goalies shut the door until the eighth round when Travis Konecny and Jason Spezza both scored.
Then shut the door in the ninth and tenth round until Andreas Johnsson scored in the eleventh round to pick up the 4-3 win for the Maple Leafs. (Stats from NHL.com).
5. Sheldon Keefe’s First Game & First Win (Nov 21, 2019)
At my number five spot I have Sheldon Keefe’s debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and what a debut it was for him.
The Toronto Maple Leafs entered Arizona to take on the Coyotes after just firing Mike Babcock the day before.
There were a lot of “firsts” in this game, like I said it was Keefe’s first NHL coaching game, Tyson Barrie also scored his first goal as a Toronto Maple Leaf, as well as Pierre Engvall scoring his first NHL goal on the penalty kill in just his second game after being called up to the NHL.
All around this game was great and fun to watch too. It kind of got spoiled in the end when Arizona broke Frederik Andersen’s potential shutout with less than a minute left, but nonetheless it was a fantastic game for multiple individuals and of course a big win after going 0-5-1 in the previous six games. (Stats from NHL.com).
TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 8: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
4. Auston Matthews’ Second Career Hat Trick (Jan 14, 2020)
At my number four spot I have Auston Matthews and his second career hat trick that he got against the New Jersey Devils.
After picking up his first career hat trick in his NHL debut, Auston Matthews finally picked up his second one after going multiple seasons without one.
This game was looking like a wrap up by the beginning of the third period when the Toronto Maple Leafs were up 6-1.
Well New Jersey came back to make it 6-4 with two minutes left in the third, before Auston Matthews potted home the empty netter to pick up his 34th of the season, third of the night and to make it a 7-4 game.
Ultimately the Toronto Maple Leafs picked up the win on home ice and it was an important win because they lost to the Florida Panthers the previous game in embarrassing fashion as well as losing Morgan Rielly to injury too.
3. Toronto’s 10 Game Point Streak 9-0-1 (Dec 14, 2019 – Jan 4, 2020)
At my number three spot I have when the Toronto Maple Leafs had their best stretch of games during the season from December 14th until January 4th when they went 9-0-1 and picked up 19 out of the possible 20 points.
In this stretch of ten games the Toronto Maple Leafs played some of their best game of the season, and most importantly picked up a lot of points that they dropped when Mike Babcock was behind the bench.
Before this stretch happened their record was 15-14-4 and after their tenth straight game with a point their record was improved to 24-14-5. (Stats from Hockey-Reference.com).
2. John Tavares Named Maple Leafs 25th Captain in Franchise History (Oct 2, 2019)
At my number two spot I have the night when the Toronto Maple Leafs revealed who the new captain of the team was going to be, and as we all know it was John Tavares.
There was a lot of speculation who would become the Maple Leafs new captain, some thought it should’ve been Auston Matthews others thought Morgan Rielly and others said the veteran John Tavares should become captain and that’s what happened.
This night was special, the Toronto Maple Leafs name a new captain, its a home opener for a brand new season, they pick up a big 5-3 win, as well as Ilya Mikheyev and Rasmus Sandin picking up their first NHL point and Tyson Barrie picking up two assists in his Maple Leafs debut. (Stats from NHL.com).
1. Toronto’s 8-6 Thrilling Win Against Carolina (Dec 23, 2019)
At my number one spot… ahh you guessed it. The afternoon game that had me full of mixed emotions until the final buzzer went. Now this game here on December 23rd might have to be in the conversation as the game of the year in all of the NHL this past season.
This thrilling game started 3-0 for the Toronto Maple Leafs just over five minutes into the game and John Tavares picking up three points on all three goals (1 G – 2 A), towards the end of the first Carolina cuts the lead to one as they score twice to make it 3-2.
By the second period it went downhill for the Maple Leafs and this is where I started to get frustrated myself. As Carolina scores three times in the second period they score five unanswered goals and wipe away a 3-0 deficit and now lead 5-3 heading into the third period.
The third period was the best part of the game if somehow you didn’t watch this game. Down by two early in the third period Auston Matthews scores to cut the lead to one.
Until Haula scored right after to make it 6-4 and by this point I went back to feeling sad. Until the unthinkable happened at the Scotiabank Arena… with around nine minutes left in the game down by two the Toronto Maple Leafs used their offensive powers and scored three goals in 59 seconds to take a 7-6 lead.
The three goals were led by obviously Mitch Marner as he picked up three points in 59 seconds (2 G – 1 A) and by the end of the night he had five points (2 G – 3 A) Pierre Engvall capped it off with an empty net goal to seal the 8-6 victory on home ice and the Toronto Maple Leafs walked into the Christmas break with their winning streak still in place.
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What do you guys think of these ten memorable moments? If I missed a memorable moment from this years 2019-20 season, let me know.