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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – When it was all said and done, John Tavares got his happy homecoming after all.

It didn’t come on Thursday, when the former New York Islanders’ captain returned to face his former team – and their fans’ antagonism - for the first time since departing for Toronto as a free agent after nine seasons with the Isles’ last summer.

Rather, it happened Saturday on Toronto’s home ice, where a tidal wave of support greeted the Mississauga, Ont., native before puck drop on what would become a 5-2 Leafs’ win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Unbeknownst to Tavares, the Leafs announced their starting lineup – of which he was part of – in reverse order so his name would be last, and Tavares' teammates backed away to let him soak up thunderous applause and salute the bellowing crowd.

“I don’t know who set that all up, but we have a special group in here, tremendous people, not just hockey players,” Tavares said of the scene. “Just the support we give one another, and to give me a moment like that, it’s certainly something I’ll always remember and just shows how tight we are in here and I really appreciated it.”

Right on script, Tavares scored the game’s first goal, too, hounding a puck out in front of Sabres’ goaltender Linus Ullmark early in the opening frame. It would be his first of three points on the night, and as a chorus of “J-T” rang down from the gathered faithful, Tavares acknowledged another lingering standing ovation from the bench.

“It was a pretty special moment certainly to be recognized like that, get the support from the city and the fans,” he said. “Shows you why it’s special to be a Maple Leaf. I definitely got some goosebumps, and it was a nice little boost there. Nice to do it in a win.”

Securing a victory was the biggest thing on Tavares’ mind after the Leafs dismantling 6-1 loss to the Islanders. The Sabres didn’t make their hosts' night easy, though. Jason Pominville and Conor Sheary responded to Tavares by beating Frederik Andersen one minute, thirty-four seconds apart in the first and giving Buffalo a 2-1 lead, but Morgan Rielly snuck through a point shot to even the score after 20 minutes.

The sides were still knotted 2-2 in the second when Kasperi Kapanen, known more for his attacking speed than truculent play, dropped the gloves for the first time in his career, dancing briefly with Evan Rodrugues.

That one of the team’s own skill players was showing that type of physicality seemed to embolden the Leafs, and Nic Petan broke through the stalemate. He had only just been traded to Toronto from Winnipeg, in exchange for Par Lindholm, last Monday, and in his debut with the Leafs the 23-year-old buried a one-timer past Ullmark to put Toronto up 3-2.

Before the end of the second, Nikita Zaitsev had extended the lead to 4-2, an injection of confidence for the defenceman after his early game was riddled with poor gap control.

Tavares assisted on Zaitsev’s goal, and then again on linemate Mitch Marner’s empty netter that iced Toronto’s 40th win of the season.

Marner also notched a goal and two assists in a game that was as much about returning to form for the Leafs as it was gleaning a little redemption for Tavares after a lackluster showing and hostile reception on Long Island.\

“It’s hard [for those jeers] not to affect someone,” Marner said. “All the stuff you could hear, it doesn’t matter how strong-willed you are in your head, it’s going to affect you one way or another. That’s why I think it was so special coming back home and giving him that love he deserved.”

And unlike the way Toronto’s solid first period on Thursday gave way to sloppy puck management down the stretch, the Leafs showed some character of their own after giving up their early lead.

“When we got down, I don’t think we got desperate, didn’t turn the puck over,” Marner said. “We played the game we wanted to, and we knew it was going to come eventually.”

Tavares knew it would too, and didn’t begrudge his teammates for not turning in a similar performance to Saturday’s two nights before.

“We win and lose as a team,” Tavares said. “As a team we just wanted to respond and it was great for the guys to give me that support [tonight], I just really appreciated it. We win and lose as a team; it was a good team effort as a team tonight, and a good bounce back.”

Takeaways

Petan picks it up

Before he suited up on Saturday, Petan hadn’t played an NHL game in 10 weeks, relegated to being a healthy scratch with the Jets from Christmas break through to when they traded him to Toronto last Monday.

Mike Babcock decided not to waste much time after acquiring Petan to see what he could do, replacing Tyler Ennis against Buffalo with the 23-year-old newcomer.

Late in the second period, Trevor Moore made a great play to set up Petan for a one-timer past Ullmark that gave Toronto back a lead. It was Petan’s first goal since Feb. 23, 2018, and just the sixth goal of his 109-game NHL career. That single score also matched the entirety of Lindholm’s goal production through 61 games with the Leafs.

Moore has been the fourth line’s spark plug ever since being recalled following Lindholm’s departure. In four games, Moore has two assists, his centre Frederik Gauthier has two points (goal, assist), and Ennis has a goal and an assist. Moore’s ability to play heavy and attention to detail helps his line maintain possession and create scoring opportunities that weren’t there before.

Ennis will go back in for Toronto on Monday at Calgary, but Petan asserted himself well after a long layoff and could be a solid option on the fourth line going forward. He finished the game with one shot on goal in 7:45 time on ice.

Andersen shakes it off

Lately it’s been the players in front of Andersen starting poorly and him keeping the game in close range against a barrage of shots, but on Saturday, Andersen wasn’t his usual collected self in the first period.

Both Pominville and Sheary got pucks past Andersen that he’d normally have no trouble stopping, and looked uncharacteristically shaky through the first 20 minutes. Sheary’s shot especially wasn’t particularly hard either; it just fooled Andersen’s glove hand.

The netminder shook off his opening frame to play better the rest of the way, but was still leaky on a couple of occasions in the third. At different points, Marner and then Ron Hainsey had to sweep pucks from Andersen’s crease that he had only partially saved.

When the Sabres really pressed in the third, Andersen was back on his A-game, making difficult stops look easy as he closed the door on Buffalo for a third straight time this season. Andersen finished with 35 saves and .946 save percentage.

Rielly racks ‘em up

When Rielly scored the Leafs’ equalizer in the first period, it was his sixteenth goal of the season, most by a Leafs’ defenceman in a single season since Bryan McCabe’s 19 goals in 2005-06.

On a night where other Leafs’ blueliners struggled, Rielly’s play in his own end stood out as especially strong. He had a great backcheck on Jeff Skinner’s breakaway chance in the second period, slowing him down enough for Andersen to get his body down on the puck. Rielly plays with a calmness most nights that allows him to be effective breaking the puck out through traffic and he steadies the Leafs’ down in their end when pressure gets chaotic.

Rielly finished with four shots on goal in a team-high 24:32.

Here comes the boom

Jake Muzzin has been a work in progress for the last few weeks, still adjusting to the speed of the Leafs and Eastern Conference as a whole.

In Saturday’s outing, he had some glaring turnover problems and still seems hesitant at times moving the puck out of the zone. But Muzzin also isn’t afraid to use his body, and is willing to challenge opponents with it unlike anyone else in the Leafs’ lineup.

Muzzin started early in the first period, when he plastered Evan Rodrigues into the boards with a thundering hit that upended Rodrigues to the ice. And later in the second, when Zach Bogosian laid a heavy hit on Moore, Muzzin responded by leveling Zemgus Girgensons.

Toughness has been obviously lacking at times for the Leafs this season, but if Muzzin and his fellow big-bodied teammates can channel a similar attitude more often, it could help the Leafs appear more fearsome going into the postseason.

Blue and White Trending

Tracking Leafs’ trends all season long

The Leafs are a perfect 31-0-0 when leading after two periods this season.

Next up

Toronto heads off on another road trip, meeting the Flames in Calgary on Monday.

Open Mike

“Unless you’re a great athlete and unless they love you, they don’t do that. When you get booed on the road, you must be something special. That’s the way I look at that. Our fans obviously wanted to support him here tonight, he’s an important part of our team and he made a great decision for himself and his family. We’re thrilled to have him.”

-          Mike Babcock, on John Tavares being booed on Long Island and then cheered upon returning home to Toronto on Saturday. 

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