Leafs Postgame: Long live the Toronto Aretnas

Not to be dramatic or anything, but this was the best game the Leafs have played in 100 years and I would die for this team.

Okay but seriously, today’s game was pretty sweet.  Mitch Marner scored a career-high of four points in what turned out to be one of the best games of his NHL career.  The scoring came from across the lineup, and the team put on quite a show for the many generations of fans in the ACC.

@Mike Babcock: See what happens when the Leafs don’t play dump-and-chase hockey? An 8-1 win is nothing to scoff at, and let’s just pretend the Carolina Hurricanes were a worthy opponent.

The Leafs’ opening montage was a stunner:

On a more serious note, it was pretty cool to see the history behind the team leading up to this moment and the team did a great job summarizing 100 years of history into this one game.

Without further adieu, let’s get to it.

Okay… but how? Carolina pulled away in terms of scoring chances after the first period, and somehow carried that lead into the end of the game.

Whatever. We still won.

Buckle in, the first period was pretty eventful.

Daddy Leo Komerov opened up the scoring just 3 minutes into the game, tallying the team’s first short-handed goal of the season:

It wasn’t a great start for Scott Darling. Just two minutes later, Mitch Marner tallied one to snap his 15-game goalless streak and put the Leafs up 2-0:

At this point, Scott Darling has a save percentage of 0%.  The Hurricanes would come back to score their only goal of the game on a stinker by Freddie, though it appeared to be redirected by Ron Hainsey.

The Leafs, obviously unhappy with Carolina’s offensive attempts, would score two more goals to send the game into the intermission with a 4-1 lead after one period of play:

The second period wasn’t very eventful, but I don’t think anyone is complaining about that after a win of this calibre.

Carolina had a few good chances in the second, but couldn’t capitalize on anything.

Marner would grab his third assist of the game on this play, as Patrick Marleau scores the Leafs’ fifth goal of the game early in the third:

Just 6ix seconds later, Kasperi Kapanen would score his second in five NHL games this season to further secure victory for the Leafs:

Our Swedish prince, William Nylander, scored his first in eight games (?) and Connor Carrick would grab his second of the season to seal the victory for the Leafs in the third.

Somehow, Scott Darling played the whole game? Yeah, we don’t get it either.

Obviously, the MVP of the game goes to none other than Mitchell Marner.

The Leafs are back in action tomorrow night against the Blue Jackets, this time playing at 7:30pm.  See you then!