Three things the Leafs taught us last night

Do you remember what it’s like to be up 1-0 in a series? It’s been literally 16 years since the last time.

Here are three things we learned from last night, a very fun night, where the Toronto Maple Leafs were markedly better than the Boston Bruins and beat them by a hilarious 4-1 score, in an arena where apparently the Bruins are unbeatable, or something.

They looked very beatable last night to me!

Anyway. Here’s what we learned:

Zdeno Chara? Never heard of him. New guy in the league, maybe?

Trevor Moore, a grizzled playoff vet, showed us why he’s the most feared player on the Leafs roster to play. Fun stuff!

Leading up to the playoffs, there was a lot of chatter, rumours, and talk about how Frederik Andersen was not cut out for playoff hockey. Too tired, too bad, too inexperienced, too young, too old, too European, not European enough.

And then:

And also!

He made 37 saves on the night, including all 32 at even strength. Heck of a performance!

Well, if you watched the Leafs for his first two seasons, or also this season, you would realize that William Nylander is quite good at hockey.

But for whatever reason, a lot of people still think he is not only a) not worth his contract, he is also b) not a very good hockey player at all!

I wrote yesterday how Nylander had the chance to silence his critics.

And hey! Great start with a goal in Game 1.

Here is a smarter man than I explaining how William Nylander, a good boy, scored a great goal last night. Way to Go, Paul!

Way to go William!

Just look at that pass! What a pass! Wow! Great pass! Nazem Kadri: good too!

Game 2 goes in Boston tomorrow night. Wonder what we’ll learn then.