This is precisely the moment John Tavares envisioned when he signed with his boyhood Toronto Maple Leafs on Canada Day during the summer of 2018. After a 19-year drought, the Maple Leafs are off to the second round of the playoffs; the curse that has plagued the seven-year iteration of the franchise defined by Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Tavares is now over.
Tavares scored the overtime winner to eliminate the three-time conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto’s usually stoic captain erupted after his shot hit Darren Raddysh’s skates and trickled over the line for the 2-1 franchise-altering goal.