Maple Leafs’ Max Domi might have just played his best game of the season

Max Domi isn’t going to the Toronto Marlies any time soon. But if you let social media commenters control the Toronto Maple Leafs, he would have been long gone ages ago.

Domi has gotten his fair share of criticism this year – and much of it was well deserved. He was never a big-time goal-scorer – his 28 goals in 2018-19 marked the only time he has ever surpassed 20. But given it took him nearly two and a half months to score his first goal of the season, it was definitely a struggle for the 30-year-old veteran.

Thursday, though, was a much better showing from Domi. He started the game with a big hit on Carter Verhaeghe and then fought Nate Schmidt a few seconds later – and easily won it. But more importantly, Domi scored to make it 3-2 in a game that saw a close shot count, with Florida dominating most metrics. Domi’s goal helped get the team back into the game, and while it didn’t matter in the end, it was still a big moment for a small forward who just hasn’t had the season he was looking for.

By the looks of it, Domi will fail to crack the 40-point mark after playing at least 60 games in a season for the first time in his career. He had 47 points a year ago, giving Toronto some much-needed offensive depth in the middle six. But this year, he’s had a bunch of multi-game point streaks, only to go 3+ nights without another. He hasn’t registered more than three shots in a game, but, again, he’s never been a volume shooter.

The Maple Leafs came out flat against a Panthers team missing Matthew Tkachuk, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad. Toronto deserved to lose. But Domi was Toronto’s most impactful player, bringing the energy to help spruce up a quiet Scotiabank Arena crowd. While it wasn’t a must-win for the Maple Leafs, top spot in the Atlantic – and a better potential playoff matchup – was on the line. The big guns were mostly ineffective, beyond John Tavares’ goal two minutes in. But after that, Toronto didn’t do much to shake things up at 5-on-5.

Domi, though, was physically and defensively engaged. He worked his tail off, battled hard, and won many puck battles. It was the definition of a locked-in game from a guy the Leafs expect more out of. You could see it. You could feel it. Every time Domi hit the ice, he was electric. Juiced. A maniac on skates. He was driven to make something happen. Head coach Craig Berube even gave him some big shifts late to try and shake things up.

And that’s exactly the type of performance the team needs to see more of going forward. If the Leafs are going to finally go far in the playoffs, they’ll need to treat every remaining regular season game like it truly matters. Domi wore his heart on his sleeve. He brought the emotion that Leafs Nation craves. It was just one game, but in an outing so many deemed to be incredibly important, it was exactly what you wanted to see.

When Domi’s playing well, the Leafs typically come out ahead. Of his 26 points this year, Domi has spread them out over 21 games. Toronto’s record in those games is 17-4-0. So when Domi produces, things are typically going OK.

Last night was a bit of an outlier, but after registering points in consecutive games, it’s hopefully the start of a good end to the season for No. 11.