The Toronto Maple Leafs secured home-ice advantage for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday night with a 1–0 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens.
The path there, however, included tension and fireworks both on the scoresheet and at center ice following an unexpected hit on former team captain John Tavares.
Midway through the second period, Montreal defenseman Kaiden Guhle caught Tavares with a clean but heavy open-ice hit.
That drew an immediate response from Max Domi, who dropped the gloves with Guhle in a tilt that saw both players land several punches before falling to the ice—Domi leading the action and Guhle trying to hold and grab the Leafs forward for as much time as possible.
Guhle and Domi were handed five-minute major penalties for fighting. The Leafs offender also earned an extra two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for initiating the fight without engaging in a hockey play.
“I didn’t know that rule, to be honest,” Domi said after the game. “I was talking to the two refs out there, and they said that you got to actually make a play, like a hockey play, and then you can fight. Now I know.”
Despite the penalty and forcing his team to play on a man disadvantage, Domi said the ultimate outcome—and the playoff implications—were worth it.
“It’s huge. Any time you can lock up that, it’s massive,” Domi said of clinching home-ice. “Whoever we’re going to play, it’s going to be a heck of a battle in the first round.
”Hopefully, our fans are ready to go because we will be, for sure.”
Mitch Marner ended the game 36 seconds into overtime, scoring on a pass from William Nylander just after a breakaway save by Anthony Stolarz.
Toronto clinched a top-two finish in the Atlantic Division with the win over the Habs. The Canadiens, who needed a regulation win to secure a wild-card spot, saw their six-game win streak snapped and will have to wait to clinch.
The Leafs improved to 49–26-4 and 102 points and will face the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday night in the second game of a back-to-back.
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