The Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2024-25 regular season has officially wrapped, and now, only the Stanley Cup Playoffs await. And really, for a meaningless Thursday-night tilt against a middling opponent, a Game 82 where the central goal was simply to get to the end of the evening without adding any more injuries to the pile, you couldn’t have drawn it up much better.
“Definitely weird,” veteran defender Chris Tanev said from the locker room after the final buzzer had sounded. “You’re just trying to feel it out. You see what happened to Dallas last night, [Jason] Robertson got hurt, and you obviously don’t want any of your key guys to get hurt.”
The Maple Leafs certainly looked like they were playing to avoid injury for long stretches of this closing-time meeting with the Detroit Red Wings. By the end of the second period, the home side found themselves losing 3-1, the Wings outshooting them 27-12, a Justin Holl revenge game percolating.
But fresh off a run that had seen Toronto win four straight games — and eight of their past nine — the Maple Leafs decided to avoid ending their division-title-clinching season on a sour note. So, they turned it on for the final 20, scoring an early third-period stunner, a final-second equalizer, and an overtime winner to take this thing before the final buzzer. Curtains.
And who else to get the winner in the final game of the regular season than the one man in a Maple Leafs sweater who might’ve needed it most — trade-deadline acquisition Scott Laughton, whose struggles since joining his boyhood club have been well-documented and much-discussed.
“It was nice,” Laughton said of his clincher after the dust had settled on the 4-3 Maple Leafs win. “To get out in overtime and end the season on a high note, it’s big. … We found a way.”
Though the confidence boost was surely appreciated on Laughton’s end, in his coach’s eyes, it wasn’t necessarily needed. He’d already seen progress from the Oakville, Ont. product before he corralled a puck off the end-boards, shifted it to his forehand, and wired it past Cam Talbot.
“If you go back three games now, he’s really come around for us,” head coach Craig Berube said of the depth pivot. “I thought in Buffalo he was excellent. Before that, he was even playing good hockey. He’s got some chemistry going with those guys, starting to feel a lot more comfortable.
“I was happy for him to get that goal in OT. You score a goal, you feel good about yourself. But it’s not the goal so much, it’s just how he’s playing the game.”
It was a couple more unlikely culprits who got Toronto to that extra frame. With the clock winding down and Berube managing the minutes of his squad’s offensive juggernauts, the fans packing the stands had all but accepted Game 82 had gotten away from them. A worthwhile price for heading into Game 1 with a healthy lineup.
And then came Leafs defender Philippe Myers, pulling out his best Cale Makar impression with a dazzling tally that saw him embarrass two Red Wings — first darting by Tyler Motte, then dangling Auston Watson — before waiting out Cam Talbot and sniping one by the veteran netminder.
Needless to say, the bench enjoyed it.
“That might be the goal of the year,” Berube said of the tally post-game, before adding with a chuckle: “I wasn’t sure who it was for a while, watching it. Hell of a goal. I mean, hell of a goal.”
“Highlight of the night, for sure,” added Tanev
“He kept saying once a year he pulls something like that out,” said captain Auston Matthews. “He waited ‘til Game 82.”
The man himself was all smiles post-game as he relived the unexpected highlight-reel gem.
“Once a year. Obviously it felt really good, and I’ll take it,” Myers said. “I don’t even know what happened there, but it was nice to see that one go in. … Shake and bake, and that’s it.”
It was another unstoppable offensive practitioner, Tanev, who potted the tying goal in the dying seconds of the third period. And the rugged veteran couldn’t contain his excitement when asked about the moment post-game.
“It is what it is,” Tanev said. “The fun stuff starts now.”
That it does. With the awkward-yet-oddly-thrilling closer done and dusted, the Maple Leafs are ready to turn the page on the regular season and direct all focus to the task in front of them — a tough first-round bout with the rival Ottawa Senators, kicking off Sunday on this same sheet.
“Two good teams going at it — it’s going to be a hard-fought series,” Myers said of the coming test. “They’ve got a really good team over there. It’s going to be physical. It’s going to be a war out there.”
The Maple Leafs should have every reason to head into the matchup with confidence. Not because they managed to outlast a mediocre Red Wings team with nothing on the line, but because Thursday’s win was just the latest in what’s been a long string of them, Berube’s squad having played some of their best hockey in the final month of the season.
“It feels good,” Matthews said of where he feels his team is at. “We’ve played a good stretch over the past couple weeks. I just think the style of play that we’ve been playing is suitable for the post-season — just being direct, making sure that we’re forechecking well, taking care of the puck when we have to. Just doing the right things in both ends.
“You go through 82 games, lots of ups, lots of downs. You just try to find your footing at times. I just like the way that we responded when we had some adversity. … It’s taken all 20 guys in the room some nights, other guys leading the way, goaltending, stuff like that. That’s what you need to win big games in big moments.”
Thursday’s tilt offered an unexpected window into that approach. On a night that didn’t matter, a night where the game had slipped away and everyone in the building was fine to let it go, Berube’s squad decided to put their heads down and work their way back.
“We’ve found ways, at the right time,” said Laughton. “The goalies have been big, guys have stepped up on D when there’s been some key injuries, and we’ve just found a way to keep plugging through. … We found a way, and you’re going to need that in the playoffs, finding a way in tight games.”
“I think everyone’s bought in to how we want to play,” said Tanev. “Now it’s time for us to get down to business, and start preparing for Ottawa.”
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