The Toronto Maple Leafs eliminate the Hawks and finally win a hockey game!

Plan the parade, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the winners again!

A win is a win, but man, that Toronto Maple Leafs game last night was very close to being another heartbreak.

Before last night’s game, everyone in hockey had their eyes on the Chicago Blackhawks organization. It wasn’t because of the “Original Six” game against the Leafs, but it was because of the sickening news surrounding John Doe, who we now know as Kyle Beach.

Beach revealed himself to the public yesterday and shared more details about the sexual abuse that occurred while he was with the Blackhawks organization.

Stan Bowman is absent as chief executive because of the allegations and many more will be fired or punished for their behavior. Beach is a survivor and his story should be shared so that he can help many other people who have faced a similar situation.

For those unfamiliar with the story, please watch this interview by TSN’s Rick Westhead, as Beach shares details about the event.

As the Blackhawks faced these important allegations off the ice, they still had one game to play on the ice. Before Wednesday’s game they were winless, but worse still, they hadn’t led a game all year yet.

So obviously we all knew what was going to happen when they played against the Leafs.

Toronto Maple Leafs rally to beat Chicago

The game started as we all expected. Chicago took a 1-0 lead, eventually securing their first lead of the season and eventually taking a 2-0 lead after the first period.

I don’t know how all the Leafs fans felt in the first intermission, but I was angry. How could Toronto lose to one of the worst teams in the NHL when it desperately needs this victory? This team is a joke and if they lose tonight I think I won’t be able to watch anymore.

Things didn’t seem to be going much better, but John Tavares then entered the lunge, pulled a backhand at the net and made the game 2-1. Finally the big boys showed up and did something. Not only did the captain score his second goal of the season, but Mitch Marner scored an assist, which we haven’t been able to say much about this season.

Toronto dominated the third period, playing like the team we expected, but an unfamiliar face stood out. David Kampf scored in the middle of the period to tie the game and send him into overtime.

After dominating Chicago 17-7 in the third period, Toronto deserved to win and needed the win more than anything to regain confidence. They needed core four to do something and that’s exactly what happened.

Auston Matthews passed the puck to William Nylander, pushing him for a breakaway, then Nylander slid a five hole to win the game.

Oh my God, the Toronto Maple Leafs won another hockey game. Glory to the Lord!

It wasn’t a perfect match, but the main thing to remember was the rallying cry after the first period. They faced adversity last week and last night was no different. They could have easily bent and lost this one to a landslide, but instead they dug deep, made it work overtime, and core four stepped up.

Toronto can’t continue to show early deficits, but that should keep the team moving forward as they hope to easily collect two points on Saturday night against the Detroit Red Wings.

For this team there are no easy two points so they will probably win in overtime but our sanity hopefully it will be another big win and core four goes up again.