Toronto Maple Leafs Find Turning Point in Wild Game 3

Maybe this year really will be different for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Despite being outplayed by the Tampa Bay Lightning in game 3 of their opening round playoff series, the Toronto Maple Leafs refused to back down, and came away with a 4-3 overtime victory.

Outshot 28-16 after 2 periods (stats from nhl.com), theLeafs were down 3-2 and Ilya Samsonov was the only reason the game was still close.

It’s not that Toronto was playing terrible hockey, but they were struggling to counter the Lightning’s energy level and had trouble generating much offense.

Toronto Maple Leafs Win Wild Game 3

The third period was a close-checking affair, and it wasn’t until the final minute with Samsonov on the bench for a sixth attacker that Ryan O’Reilly scored to send the game into OT.

Neither team gave an inch in overtime, until Morgan Reilly floated in the seeing-eye winner with 45 seconds left in the period.

In years past, the Toronto Maple Leafs would have folded under the pressure in a game such as this. Losing 3-2 in the third period, on the road, against a veteran team, Lightning star forward Braydon Point battled with Toronto’s Reilly before crashing awkwardly into the boards. The other Tampa Bay skaters decided to get some revenge, and tried to rough up some of the Leafs top talent in the process.

After Nikita Kucherov jumped on Morgan Reilly, he ended up trading punches with Ryan O’Reilly. Lightning captain Steven Stamkos lost it, crosschecking two Leafs before goading Auston Matthews into his first ever fight. Stamkos threw several sucker punches before the Toronto sniper had a chance to drop his gloves and return fire.

Darryn Raddysh went after the diminutive Mitch Marner, and was rewarded for his efforts with a minor penalty for roughing.

While the referees sorted out the penalties, Luke Schenn stood on the ice between the benches and calmly stared down several Lightning players who were hurling threats and generally trying to look mean.

I have no problem with Tampa Bay’s reaction to Point’s injury (despite Reilly not being at fault), or their attempt to intimidate their opponents. This is the playoffs, and players have to do what it takes to win.  Having your teammate’s back, blocking shots, playing hurt – these are all part of the winning formula.

However, this may end up being a key turning point if the Toronto Maple Leafs go on to win the series. Rather than turtling and skating meekly off into the night, the Leafs took everything the Lightning had to give. They collectively picked themselves up and seemed to say “that’s it, that’s all you’ve got?”, and went on to ultimately win the game.

Like a kid who finally confronts his bully and realizes his own strength, the Leafs may have realized at last that they have what it takes to win.