Big four has chance to change narrative
They can and they will.
Could the Toronto Maple Leafs sign William Nylander, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares, and still have enough left to compete in the Stanley Cup playoffs? That was the question … and the answer.
That line about signing the $40-Million Four was attributed to the general manager, Kyle Dubas. They can sign them, they will sign them and they did sign them — and on Tuesday night at a frenzied Scotiabank Arena, the autographs of the Big Four were found all over the ice and all over this first-round playoff series with the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
Over the years, there have been times when Auston Matthews has been great, or Mitch Marner or William Nylander and, certainly less than that, John Tavares. But there haven’t been many nights when all four came up huge and none to date larger than what happened in a frenetic serve-and-volley Game 5 of this suddenly breathtaking series.
This was something to see, something to remember, something to hold on to. In all its splendour, Game 5 was packed with drama and intrigue, with the first lead changes of the series, with goaltending great and greater, the kind of game coach Jon Cooper talked about missing in this year’s playoffs across the board — although he might have preferred the Leafs stayed rather quiet for another night or two.
The big-ticket items showed up when it mattered most in the series.
Nylander scored a goal, banked a puck off Tavares for another, then found the captain, who brilliantly made his greatest play as a Leaf, spinning and spotting Morgan Rielly for a third-period go-ahead goal.
All this coming after Nylander had a near-breakaway and another partial breakaway before the Leafs finally scored.
The winning goal came off a 2-on-1 with the golden boys, Marner and Matthews, the setup man and the shooter.
Only this time, the setup man took the shot — and Matthews easily deposited the rebound.
And for a moment, the whole city seemed to shake along with the explosive and emotional Matthews.
Before that, Matthews had all kinds of scoring chances in the second period and Marner danced the way only he can — and it seemed just a matter of time before something was going to beat Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Somebody had to lose this game, and somebody had to be trailing 3-2 in the series and that is where the Lightning now finds itself having been defeated in the first, third, and fifth games of this best-of-seven round. And somewhere among all of the high-priced greatness in the game, the forever humble Jack Campbell had a rather marvelous night. It didn’t start well, although the two first-period goals were hardly his fault.
Campbell managed to be what playoff goaltenders are supposed to be. He gave his team a chance to win. When it was 2-0 Tampa, he made save after save to prevent it from becoming 3-0. There was a save on Steven Stamkos and then another one, then two on Nick Paul. And had any of those gotten past Campbell, this would be a different story and a different series today.
Campbell stood tough and provided his Leafs the opportunity to come back. It took them a while to find their legs and their game and, once they found that speed, after Jason Spezza’s emotional plea at the end of the first period, it was as though they couldn’t be beaten. Campbell was the MVP of the first half of the game and maybe of the final two minutes. He and the Leafs needed these convincing performances after a spotty Game 4 in Tampa two nights earlier.
This was heavyweight playoff hockey. The kind that was missing from the Leafs in the previous two playoff seasons. The kind we weren’t certain this group could ever match, even with all of their talent, even with a skill level few teams in hockey can muster.
Hearing about it year after year loses its meaning over time. Tuesday night was about doing it. Nylander dominating. Tavares setting up. Marner, dipsy-doodling. Matthews scoring, which he does better than any Maple Leaf who has ever played.
You add in some Campbell, some Rielly in the offensive zone, the rest of the roster chipping in necessarily, and suddenly the impossible seems possible. And, yes, they have to do this again — something similar, something with this kind of statement — on Thursday night or Saturday night.