Well, that was a fun one over the ‘nucks, wasn’t it?

The Leafs didn’t play pretty hockey and left it too close for comfort, but two points are two points are two points.

Have you heard of this Besser guy? He’s apparently this one-shot-scorer type dude, who’s pretty good at his job, apparently. All jokes aside, Boeser creates the play by knocking the puck down out of a failed clearance attempt, gets the puck over to Vanek, and gets a slight amount of separation before receiving the return pass. A one-time effort on the short side beats Frederik Andersen, and the Canucks take the game’s first lead.

In his first season as a Canuck, Sam Gagner has won the hearts and minds of everyone who forgot that he’s already played for five NHL teams in his… eleven seasons??? Midway through the third period, his seventh goal of the year was a power play goal, picked up on a 5 on 3 after both Roman Polak and Matt Martin took minor penalties. With a tired Leafs unit on the ice and more than enough room to work with, Gagner reached back and wired this one past Andersen to give the Canucks a two-goal lead.

For a player to be your true hero, he’s got to save you a lot. Somehow, Auston Matthews manages to skate through the offensive zone untouched after dishing the puck off for a cute 1-2 play with Zach Hyman.  Canucks defenceman Troy Stetcher is very much looking like a fool with his pants on the ground, and the Leafs are able to get themselves back within one as Auston hits his 19th goal of the season.

What a player that Morgan Rielly is, eh?

Putting together the best season of his career so far, Rielly does his best “Erik Karlsson in the playoffs” (2017, not 2018) impersonation and sends the puck from one area code to another as Tyler Bozak finishes off his own rebound to tie the game at 2 apiece.

Not pictured in this GIF was the little tap-pass across the defensive zone from Travis Dermott, who picked up his first NHL point on the play.

With both Matthews and Bozak coming through in the shootout, the Leafs were able to pick up the victory in the penalty shot challenge for the second game in a row.

See you tomorrow night, as the Leafs take on the Blue Jackets at 7 pm.