Not every game in an NHL team’s regular season can be a spirited, emotional affair. But on Saturday at Air Canada Centre, there was no absence of passion between the Maple Leafs and their arch-rivals from Montreal – and with Leafs legend Dave Keon in the building for a pre-game ceremony in front of a raucous crowd, the Buds rebounded from a 2-0 deficit to earn a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Canadiens.
“It was really good,” Leafs goalie James Reimer said of the overall vibe in the ACC. “The fans got into it and that always makes it a lot more fun, gets us energized, gets us going.