TORONTO – It’s safe to say Ryan O’Reilly isn’t running on much sleep.
After finding out late Friday he was the headliner of a three-team blockbuster trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with Noel Acciari in exchange for a package of picks, plans were quickly set in motion for the teammates to travel North.
They had a game to play, after all, and this wasn’t one they were going to miss.
Mere hours after touching down in Toronto from St. Louis on Saturday, O’Reilly was taking the opening faceoff at Scotiabank Arena, the Clinton, Ont., native and former Blues captain clad in the blue and white of the Maple Leafs in an Original Six matchup against the Montreal Canadiens.
“I had a ton of family here as well, so I know it was very special to them,” O’Reilly said post-game before adding with a laugh, “and I’m glad I won the draw… that was kind of nice, too.”
For O’Reilly, the motivation to make it into the lineup wasn’t just about the local connection to his new club.
“It’s kind of like going into cold water – it’s better to just kind of jump headfirst instead of tiptoe into it,” he said. “And this was a little extreme in the sense of going here and then taking off [to Chicago]right now, it’s a little crazy, but a nice way to do it. You know, I think the longer we wait, the more kind of thinking creeps in. It’s better just to get here and start playing … and it’s been great so far.”
Said Acciari, “We don’t want to waste any time. We wanted to get out here and be with these guys, get a day here in this arena in front of the home crowd and, you know, get that big win.”
And a big win, it was. After Josh Anderson opened the scoring less than a minute into the second period, the Maple Leafs promptly took over, scoring five unanswered goals – including two from Michael Bunting – for the 5-1 win. Rookie netminder Joseph Woll stood tall in his first home win in just his second appearance this season, his 30-save performance surely giving Maple Leafs management confidence in the state of their crease down the stretch should they need to turn to him more often.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Woll said of the home win, “especially against Montreal on Saturday night was pretty special.”
Perhaps Saturday’s big win could earn him a spot on the team’s group chat, too. The 24-year-old, who doesn’t have social media, said he was in the dark about the mega trade until this morning.
“I looked at the lineup and I was like, ‘What happened to our lines?’” he said with a laugh.
O’Reilly’s Toronto tenure started with him centring John Tavares and Mitch Marner – a line Keefe said postgame he knew he’d want to assemble at some point – and the trio’s chemistry was evident from the start. Their first shift brought a flurry of scoring chances with O’Reilly wasting no time making his presence known in Montreal’s zone and getting a shot off in tight. He received a hearty cheer from the home fans for his efforts as he went to the bench following his first shift, and plenty of praise from his coach following the contest.
“It was a tremendous shift,” Keefe said of that fast-paced opening act, adding that both O’Reilly and Acciari, who centred Zach Aston-Reese and Alex Kerfoot in the bottom six, came “as advertised” in their debuts.
O’Reilly’s arrival brought a new-look for No. 90, as well as No. 91. Tavares, who’s spent most of his time as a Maple Leaf playing down the middle, had a rare opportunity for a full 60 minutes on the right wing.
Keefe said he and his captain had had conversations at various times the past few seasons about Tavares suiting up on the wing but without the right situation at centre, he couldn’t afford to play him there for any extended periods of time.
It wasn’t lost on Keefe that his two new forwards were so keen to jump straight into lineup. And with a game in Chicago awaiting the Maple Leafs on Sunday – which means a second flight for O’Reilly and Acciari – it says that much more.
“I hadn’t even put together the whole Chicago thing, you know, they’re going to go right back to the time zone that they started the day in. It just speaks to their character. They were adamant about [playing],” said Keefe.
Their cold-water plunge, as O’Reilly referred to it, brought a very warm welcome from their new coach and teammates.
“I thought he played a great two-way game, contributed on the offence,” said forward Michael Bunting, who had two goals on the night. “I thought he played a great game for us especially, you know, he had a long travel day and I’m sure a long night.”
O’Reilly contributed a secondary assist on Bunting’s second marker, a collaboration that came immediately following a power-play, for his first career point as a member of the Maple Leafs.
Even with a full 60 minutes of game time under his belt, O’Reilly said it still feels surreal.
“I catch myself, every few hours or so, I just still can’t believe everything that’s just gone on and such,” O’Reilly said post-game, the former Blues captain now clad in the blue and white of the Maple Leafs. “It’s just been a whirlwind. But yeah, it’s nice to be with the boys and kind of start this process. It’s a great team here, and I’m very excited to be part of it.”
Next up comes another flight – a quick turnaround for O’Reilly and Acciari back to the Midwest, and another opportunity to bond with their new teammates.
And sleep? That’ll have to wait just a little longer.
