BUFFALO, N.Y. — In those giddy, half-geared-down moments between the Toronto Maple Leafs clinching their first-ever Atlantic Division title and Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews posing together with their taped-up, Sharpied-up milestone pucks, a celebratory yelp interrupted Marner’s post-win interview.
Woooo!
A happy, Ric Flair-esque shriek from an unseen fan cut through the scrum.
“That’s definitely one of my buddies,” said Marner, the newest NHLer (and only fourth Leaf) to join the 100-Point Club.
Marner — a productive player but self-confessed “late planner” — waited until Year 9, Game 81, to finally crack triple digits. And he waited until 11 p.m. Monday to begin texting his friends to find out if they had any interest in a cross-border road trip to take in a night that would deliver as many accomplishments as goals.
(In Marner’s defence, he thought the Sabres game was on Saturday, not Tuesday.)
He floated an offer into the group chat: If I can get you guys a party bus down here, what are you guys thinking?
“They jumped on it right away. And lucky enough, I had six of my buddies and my brother come down,” Marner said, following a 4-0 romp in Buffalo. “It’d be cool to go up in the crowd and celebrate with them.”
The Blue and White party extended well beyond Marner’s hired vehicle, as a contingent of Leafs Nation turned out for Toronto’s historic regular-season climax.
In addition to Marner’s long-sought 100th point — a one-timed snap off a nifty, return-the-favour feed from go-to centreman Auston Matthews — Matthews pumped his 400th career goal into an empty net, becoming the sixth fastest to do so. The Maple Leafs set a franchise record with their 25th road victory. And the club locked up its third divisional crown of the expansion era, renewing the Battle of Ontario on Easter Sunday.
We. Want. Ott-a-wa.
“It’s gonna be a bloodbath. Gonna be a little bit of a war. So, we’ll be ready,” said Game 1 starter Anthony Stolarz, after posting a career-best eighth consecutive win and third shutout in his past four starts. “They’re a hungry team. They haven’t made the playoffs in (eight) years here. I just think we have to continue to do what we’re doing right now. I think we feel good about our game.”
A game that has weathered injury, owned the hard areas and, with a No. 1 seed, earned the Leafs a geographical advantage.
“It’s massive for us. You get that last change. You get that Game 7 home ice,” Stolraz said. “It’s quite an accomplishment for this group, and we’re super excited about it.”
An entire generation has no recollection of how consuming and explosive a Battle of Ontario can be.
The Leafs seven-game defeat of their 401 rivals in 2004 marked the fourth time in a span of five springs that the bigger city came out on top, even if the Leafs had often been the underdog going in.
Now, the young, plucky, house-money Senators will be freed of the hefty expectations that threaten to weigh the favoured Maple Leafs down.
“It’s been a long time, obviously,” said Matthews. “They’re a good young team. They’re hungry. They’ve taken steps as well, so I think it’s going to be great. It’s going to be fun.
“It’s good for hockey. It’s going to be intense. So, we’re looking forward to it.”
No one more so, perhaps, than Ontario native Steven Lorentz, who was already dropping Patrick Lalime and Joe Nieuwendyk in the Buffalo visitors’ room, while his teammates picked at the stacks of post-win chicken wings and pizzas.
“I’m excited to bring it on. It’s exciting for the fans. Obviously, there’s a lot of passion in both organizations. But I grew up watching this series,” beamed Lorentz, his life one long dream.
“I just remember being a little kid, having a mini-stick net right in front of the TV. And when there was a TV timeout or something like that, I just started firing the ball into the net. Now, to be able to do this, I still feel like I’m that eight-year-old kid watching on TV. But I get to sit on the bench for the big boys and go put my effort in out there.”
On an evening that highlighted individuals, the focus kept circling back to the team.
The commitment to coach Craig Berube’s defensive system.
The feeling that, just maybe, these playoffs could be different, what with securing home ice and checking off those nice, round numbers instead of getting stuck at 69 or 99.
“You know, those accomplishments don’t happen by yourself,” Marner said.
“Credit to a lot of guys in that locker room that have helped me out and supported me through this year and have made some unbelievable plays for me and have put in my passes. So, I think the really cool thing is just the excitement from the guys for that point — and seeing their excitement for me.”
And with that, Marner soon made his way to meet his bus-riding, still-yelping buddies.
Which begs a question: Does he return to Ontario on a silly-short flight with his fellow Leafs teammates, or slip onto the party bus with his traveling fans?
“I don’t think that’s allowed. I don’t know. That’s a great question,” the Atlantic champ considered.
“That’d be a lot of fun, but I don’t know if that would fly.”
Fox’s Fast Five
• There is no bigger no-brainer for Lorentz and Brad Treliving this summer than coming to terms on a multi-year extension for the organization’s most consistent — and passionate – fourth-liner?
Lorentz scored just once last season in Florida.
This season, he’s up to eight goals (five of them game-winners) and 10 assists (a career best). He’ll tie a career high in games played (80) and set a career best in plus/minus (+5 right now).
Lorentz is durable, smart, and understands his role on the team precisely.
The re-up should be a layup.
“It’s awesome. I’m really proud of this group. It’s a big deal, and it says a lot about the buy-in from the group from the word go,” Lorentz said of the divisional crown. “There’s speed bumps along the way. There’s no perfect rise to first place.
“You know, days are tough sometimes. And the last thing you might want to do some days is go to practice or do that extra workout after a loss. But this group’s done it consistently, and that’s the biggest thing.”
• Yes, the Sabres remain a tire fire, missing the playoffs for a 14th(!) consecutive season. (The next longest active drought belongs to Detroit at nine seasons.)
But Rasmus Dahlin has been so phenomenal, he has earned a spot on my Norris ballot.
Get your captain some help this summer, Kevyn Adams.
• We’re not convinced Berube will keep Max Domi up with John Tavares and William Nylander throughout the Senators series — Bobby McMann and/or Max Pacioretty could see some 2LW action — but the middle-six forward has enjoyed a significantly better second half to the season.
“Max really starts to thrive this time of year,” Tavares says. “Very intense guy, tremendous playmaker. His game really starts to build and grow. He’s a factor for us all year, but he really enjoys the buildup to playoffs and then playoff hockey. I haven’t played with him a ton throughout the course of this season, so it’s on me and Willy to build that chemistry.”
That line connected twice in Sunday’s win over Carolina but got outshot 9-6 by the Sabres on Tuesday.
• Is there a more badass (badasser?) breakaway move then going full slapshot at the hashmarks?
Well, Scott Laughton tried one shorthanded Sunday in Carolina. Frederik Andersen didn’t stand a chance, but Laughton smashed a crossbar about as hard as a man can.
“Worked out for me earlier this year on a breakaway,” Laughton explained. “I went bar down. It went bar out in Carolina. It’s something to change it up. He’s a big goalie and try to beat him clean. It didn’t work out, but I’ll probably use it again in the future again if I get another one.
“It didn’t go in, but thought it was the right play.”
The kind of play that grabs new teammates’ attention.
“They were expecting a little backhand, five-hole [action],” Laughton said. “[Morgan] Rielly, my first day here, threw up a little highlight pack from my time in Philly, so I think they were expecting that.”
Laughton recalls fondly that night in November of 2019, when former teammate Claude Giroux, then with Philly, unleashed a shootout clapper that beat Andersen in Toronto.
• Tariffs reduced the usual invasion of Maple Leafs fans at KeyBank Center by about 25 per cent, but there were enough foreigners on site to kickstart a few rounds of “Go! Leafs! Go!”
Does the overwhelming presence of enemy supporters motivate the Sabres?
“Yeah, it does,” Dahlin replied. “I hate that.”
