The Toronto Maple Leafs‘ long, tumultuous nightmare is over. After nearly two decades, the Leafs have finally advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Fittingly, it took overtime for the Leafs to snap their streak of futility. Tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6, 1-1, through three periods, it took a John Tavares goal at 4:36 of the extra session to send Toronto to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Roughly five minutes into the OT, Tavares curled behind the Tampa Bay net before firing a turnaround wrister which found its way past netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Leafs’ captain became only the ninth player in NHL history to tally a series-clinching goal in overtime and the first since Gary Valk in 1999, per NHL PR.
For Tavares, it’s the second playoff drought he’s helped snap during his career. Before Saturday’s dramatic OT-winner, Tavares previously led the New York Islanders to a postseason series victory in 2016, their first in 23 years.
With a Game 7 looming on Saturday, Toronto kept their fans at Amalie Arena on the edge of their seats throughout Game 6.
After a scoreless first period, the Maple Leafs struck first when Auston Matthews scored at 13:47 of the second period.
It looked like Matthews’ goal may hold up for a while, but Lightning star Steven Stamkos took the air out of the building, scoring at 4:11 of the third period, setting the stage for Tavares in the extra session.
Toronto now awaits their second-round opponent. They’ll face the winner of Sunday’s Game 7 between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers.
