1/82: Wednesday, October 8 vs. Montreal Canadiens

In case you missed it, one of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ best players (their best playmaker overall), Mitch Marner, left his hometown team for the Vegas Golden Knights after nine seasons.

For those wondering, Vegas lost their season opener in a shootout to the Los Angeles Kings last night. Marner finished with two assists in the loss.

Back to the Leafs, though.

It was a wild night for Toronto sports fans. The Blue Jays were in New York looking to win their first road playoff game in almost a decade (2016). Admittedly, my attention was on the Jays and I really only tuned in to the Leafs game in the final 10 or so minutes, right after Morgan Rielly gave the Leafs a 3-2 lead midway through the final frame.

I wasn’t the only Leafs fan preoccupied with the Jays game last night. It was a big moment that demanded attention.

As is usual in the regular season, the Leafs got contributions from up and down their lineup. Bobby McMann started things off, beating Sam Montembault. The assists came from William Nylander and John Tavares as each got their first points in the first minute of the new season.

Nylander finished with a goal and two assists as he and Auston Matthews added empty-netter goals late to finish off the Leafs’ most storied rivals.

As nice as winning the season opener is, Wednesday night was about the Blue Jays and what they were able to accomplish after many unsuccessful years.

The Leafs head to Detroit next to face the Red Wings, their other historic rivals, on Saturday. 7pm EST puck drop on Hockey Night in Canada.