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Top three Toronto Maple Leafs moments of the past decade – Sportsnet.ca

Published

5 years ago

December 25, 2019

For a team that exits the 2010s without a single playoff series victory, there is no shortage of memorable Toronto Maple Leafs moments from the past decade — good, bad and ugly.

From Phil Kessel swinging a lightsaber at big John Scott, Curtis McElhinney stoning Sidney Crosby at the doorstep, the kids making the post-season ahead of schedule, John Tavares returning home to his bed-sheets squad and Auston Matthews sniping the Centennial Classic winner with a forgiving Dave Keon in the house, the memories are indelible and plentiful.

Here’s our top three.

4-1 is the most dangerous lead in sports • May 13, 2013

The most memorable Maple Leafs moment of the decade is a painful one, because of course it is. For 52 years, Toronto’s hockey narrative has been an exercise in misery, broken up by the odd bout with devastating disappointment.

When Nazem Kadri scored 5:29 into the third period on that night of May 13, 2013, giving Toronto a 4-1(!) lead over the Boston Bruins, Maple Leaf Square partied like Round 2 was reality.

Cue the greatest comeback/collapse in Game 7 NHL history.

Nathan Horton scores at 9:18. The Bruins pull Tuukka Rask with two minutes left. Toronto can’t hit the open net. Milan Lucic scores with the sixth attacker on the ice at 18:38. Patrice Bergeron ties it with 51 seconds on the clock, and again in overtime — thrusting a goalie (James Reimer, under siege), an organization and a city into a state of shock.

James Reimer face-down on the ice after 2013 5-4 BOS OT playoff loss – burned into my mind pic.twitter.com/5cvtAgeVVt

— Acton Clarkin (@actonhere) December 22, 2019

So, when the Leafs later gave away three one-goal leads to the Bruins to squander Game 7 at TD Garden in 2018, or failed to stomp the throat in either Game 6 or Game 7 in the 2019 rematch, those failures feel quaint by comparison.

“We were undocking from the space station and returning to Earth during that final game of that series,” Canadian astronaut and noted Leafs fan Chris Hadfield told The Toronto Star.

“While I was coming down in flames, the Leafs were going down in flames too, unfortunately.”

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Auston Matthews hits ’em with the four • Oct. 12, 2016

The scorched-earth rebuild, the trading away of sniper extraordinaire Phil Kessel and miscast captain Dion Phaneuf, the washing the sins of Salutegate, that bizzaro Peter Horachek era, the expertly executed tank campaign and president Brendan Shanahan holding a No. 1 placard at the finale of the 2016 NHL Draft Lottery while the most expensive head coach in hockey history jumped for joy in his living room… it all made sense on Opening Night of the Auston Matthews era.

The soon-to-be Calder Trophy winner scored not once, twice or thrice but four times in his NHL debut as superstars from around the league began tuning in and tweeting their amazement at the clinic in Kanata.

“It was pretty surreal,” Matthews said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

“That’s the best night we’ve had since I’ve been here by 10 miles, not even close,” former coach Mike Babcock said. “Now we have an opportunity.”

And an entire nation of Leafs fans felt the same.

In a perfectly Leafian twist, it was Ottawa’s Kyle Turris — Matthews’ man, he’d admit — who scored the overtime winner for the Senators, but for once there was hope. A franchise centre had arrived, with a bang. Hey, how many single regular-season hockey games spawn their own rap songs?

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Tyler Bozak scores in a snow globe • Jan. 1, 2014

The spectacle was a long time coming — a lockout put the kibosh on the 2013 Winter Classic — but totally worth the wait… and the white-knuckle drive across Highway 401.

The historic outdoor matinee at Ann Arbour’s Michigan Stadium packed 105,491 Detroit Red Wings and Maple Leafs fans into the Big House, warmed them with cold domestic beer and sprinkled their toques with snowflakes the size of toonies. Best of all, some marketing wizard dreamed the idea of selling half the building’s seats to Toronto supporters and the other half to Detroit, creating a red-versus-blue battle line in the stands.

Aesthetic bonus: Both teams wore darks.

That the game itself was a tight affair with three lead changes and a back-and-forth shootout was a cherry on top of the snow globe. Tyler Bozak capped off the victory by sniping low-blocker on Jimmy Howard, prompting Babcock to crown the day “a home run for hockey.”

“Having 105,000 people screaming and yelling for us is really amazing,” Bozak said. “As hockey players, we’re never going to forget that.”

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Teravainen nets four points as Blackhawks beat winless Oilers 5-2

Published

7 hours ago

October 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Teuvo Teravainen had two goals and two assists and Connor Bedard had a goal and two assists as the Chicago Blackhawks captured their first victory of the season, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.

Seth Jones also had a goal and two assists in his 800th career NHL game and Philipp Kurashev scored the other goal for the Blackhawks, who improved to 1-1-1 on the season.

Corey Perry and Leon Draisaitl scored for the Oilers, who fell to 0-2 to start the season on the heels of making it all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final last season before losing out to the Florida Panthers. Edmonton has been outscored 11-2 in its first two games.

Petr Mrazek had 35 saves in the Chicago net, while Calvin Pickard made 15 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Blackhawks: Former Oiler Taylor Hall now has eight points (2G, 6A) in 12 career games against the team that drafted him first overall in 2010, picking up an assist on Chicago’s first-period goal. There were four former first overall picks playing in the contest in Hall and Bedard for the Hawks and Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for Edmonton. Nugent-Hopkins picked up his 700th career point in the contest.

Oilers: Oilers defenceman and Edmonton-area product Brett Kulak suited up for his 500th career NHL game. The 30-year-old has been a mainstay since arriving from Montreal at the 2023 NHL trade deadline, playing in all 183 regular-season and 53 playoff games that he could. He has recorded an even 100 points in his career.

KEY MOMENT

The Blackhawks took a two-goal lead with six minutes to play in the middle frame as Bedard used a defender as a screen before ripping a perfect shot glove-side past Pickard for his first of the season.

KEY STAT

With his third period power-play goal, Oilers forward Draisaitl now has a 16-game point streak (13-18-31) against Chicago dating to Oct. 28, 2018 and passed teammate Connor McDavid (15-game streak versus New Jersey) for the NHL’s longest active point streak against one opponent.

UP NEXT

Blackhawks: Wrap up a four-game road trip in Calgary against the Flames on Tuesday.

Oilers: Host the Flames on Sunday in the third game of a season-starting four-game set at home.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.

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Huberdeau scores twice, Wolf has 37 saves in Flames’ 6-3 win over Flyers

Published

7 hours ago

October 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – Jonathan Huberdeau had two goals and two assists for the Calgary Flames in a 6-3 win in their home-opener over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Nazem Kadri scored twice, including an empty-netter with MacKenzie Weegar and Mikael Backlund each contributing a goal for Calgary (2-0-0).

Flames goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 37 of 40 shots in his season debut.

Travis Konecny scored twice, including one short-handed, and Joel Farabee also had a goal for Philadelphia (1-1-0).

Flyers starter Ivan Fedotov made 27 saves in his first start of the season.

The Flyers played their second road game in as many nights to start their season after a 3-2 shootout win over the Canucks in Vancouver.

The Flames overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Canucks 6-5 in overtime to start their season Wednesday.

TAKEAWAYS

Flyers: Slow start after beating Vancouver in a shootout 24 hours earlier, but scored twice in the second period and trailed by a goal heading into the third.

Flames: Wolf was the difference early stopping all 18 shots he faced in the first period and 37 overall. Calgary’s first goal that deflected off Huberdeau’s shoulder was lucky, but the winger set up Weegar perfectly for a one-timer and a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, assisted on a pair of power-play goals and generated the Flames’ fifth goal.

KEY MOMENT

The Flames converted a five-on-three in the second period into Kadri’s power-play goal and a two-goal lead. Wolf reached back into his crease during a scramble to clear the puck and deny Konecny a potential equalizing goal midway through the third period.

KEY STAT

Philadelphia’s power play, which was the worst in the NHL last season, was 1-for-4 on Saturday and 2-for-8 after two games. Calgary’s went 2-for-5 to be 4-for-9 after two games.

UP NEXT

Flames: Finish a back-to-back weekend on Sunday in Edmonton against the Oilers.

Flyers: Follow the Flames into Edmonton on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.

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Caufield scores twice, Canadiens beat Senators 4-1

Published

8 hours ago

October 12, 2024

Anne Joseph

MONTREAL – The Montreal Canadiens grabbed a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Emil Heineman and Cole Caufield and went on to beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Saturday at the Bell Centre.

After Alex Newhook boosted the Canadiens’ lead to 3-0 early in the third period, Tim Stutzle ended Sam Montembeault’s bid for a second consecutive shutout. Montembeault, who made 48 saves in a season-opening win over Toronto, made 24 saves.

Caufield completed the scoring with his second goal of the game and fourth of the season as the Canadiens improved to 2-1, while the Senators slipped to 1-1.

Montreal defenceman Mike Matheson was awarded a penalty shot when he was upended by Jake Sanderson on a rush to the net during a third-period power play. Linus Ullmark, who finished the game with 21 saves, got a piece of the shot which hit the post and went wide.

TAKEAWAYS

The Canadiens won the battle of special teams. Heineman scored a power-play goal with one second remaining in the advantage as Montreal went 1-for-4 with the extra man. Ottawa failed to score on four power plays and were held to three shots on goal.

KEY MOMENT

After facing only four shots in the first period, Montembeault was under pressure in the second period when the Senators outshot the Canadiens 12-3.

KEY STAT

The Canadiens have had one of the worst power plays in the NHL over the past three seasons and the outlook for this season wasn’t bright after the team went 0-for-30 in the pre-season. But Heineman scored his first NHL goal on a power play in the first period to give Montreal a power-play goal in each of its first three regular-season games.

UP NEXT

Senators: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday afternoon.

Canadiens: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.

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