WASHINGTON, D.C. — The best part about unstitching the ‘C’ from the sweater of a consummate pro like John Tavares is that he doesn’t need the flair to act like a captain.
And when the new captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs temporarily disappears with a mystery injury — as Auston Matthews has this week and last — well, Tavares simply slides back into the gig like a favourite old pair of jeans.
Among the players who participated in Tuesday’s boo-filled stinker, a shutout loss on home ice to Ottawa, it was Tavares who rightly characterized the club’s listless effort as the disappointment it was. He didn’t wave it off as a game to forget but rather one to avenge.
Less than 24 hours later, the former captain did just that, taking over as first-line centre alongside his original Leafs wingman, Mitch Marner, and the slumping Bobby McMann, then starting and finishing the job in a rollicking 4-3 comeback win over the Washington Capitals.
Skating a season-high 20:56 on the supposedly sluggish half of a back-to-back, Tavares turned Matt Roy inside out before dishing to a wide-open McMann, who made no mistake burying his first in 14 games. (McMann also finished with a game-high and career-high eight shots on net.)
“Yeah, that was unbelievable. John just went triangle, triangle, went in around the guy, drew everybody in. Everybody was looking at him, and then threw it to me. So, that was a pretty easy one,” said McMann, a mustachioed bundle of relief and excitement.
“Because once you get one, more come.”
It appeared no more would come for the visiting side as the Capitals carried a 3-1 lead with less than five minutes to go in regulation.
But despite getting a pair of presumed goals wiped off the board due to a kicking motion (Steven Lorentz) and a high stick (Matthew Knies), Toronto remained undeterred.
“I don’t get it, you know? But guys just stuck with it. They weren’t focused on it. They just were focused on the next shift, which was good by them,” said coach Craig Berube, maintaining that both pucks should have counted.
“We could feel it was coming,” McMann added. “We got a couple called back, so we felt that it was there.”
The Leafs pressed; the Caps tried clinging.
A ghastly Tom Wilson giveaway at his own blueline led to a Knies steal and a William Nylander finish. Then Marner tied the thing with a pulled goalie, a few missed empty nets the other way, and just 48 ticks on the Jumbotron.
Cue the heroics from the aging (or is it ageless?) Tavares, who has seen his 3-on-3 shifts get limited deep in his career.
But the man was flying on this night, and with few other skilled centremen to choose from, Berube leaned on Tavares.
In overtime, Joseph Woll stoned Alex Ovechkin on a point-blank clapper, and Tavares got sprung for a solo break the other way.
“Just excited about the opportunity. Just trying to get there. I was just kind of staring at (goalie Logan Thompson) more than anything, trying to get there as quick as I can to keep him in the net. I thought maybe he might come out and challenge it. But then once you get close to the red line, he was in his crease, so I felt pretty good about it,” Tavares explained.
“I had a feeling I wanted to make a move just because of the angle I was at, and with him moving laterally, I knew he might have to open up, so I just tried to be aware of possibly going five-hole and it worked out.”
Tavares now has 18 points in 18 games. He’s certainly doing his part to produce, to lead, through injuries and a dearth of even-strength scoring.
“He was excellent again. He’s been playing really well, and he’s just a competitor. He’s so good with the stick in tight areas, winning battles,” Berube praised.
“Great to see him get that OT winner. I thought he had a heck of a game.”
Tavares saw the context of this win as clear as a breakaway. Amid the high-fives and laughs and sweaty good vibes in the visitors’ quarters, the former captain reminded how the Maple Leafs weren’t themselves against the Sens. That they had strayed, and that wasn’t acceptable.
They needed to address that disappointment as a group. Face it head-on. Then correct their mistake.
“It wasn’t perfect by all means, but sometimes you just stay with it, gut one out,” Tavares said. “A good character win and something the group can really build off.”
And dine off, apparently.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson will be taking the boys out for dinner as a reward for finishing his 1,000th game on a winning note.
“Always looking forward to a free dinner,” Marner chimed.
“Yeah, I’m excited for that,” McMann agreed. “I’m sure he’s got some expensive taste.”
“I mean, whatever,” Nylander smiled. “Some expensive wine, maybe, would be nice.”
• Shame we were denied a chance to watch Ovechkin and Matthews (upper body) on the same sheet.
If anyone could eventually supplant the Capitals star as the goal-scoring GOAT (yes, the record now feels inevitable), Matthews is the favourite.
“The way he shoots the puck, he’s sort of similar — he finds himself in great ice all the time. His goals are a little different. Ovi’s are a lot on one-timers, from that same side of the ice. Auston has a great one-timer, but he has a really good wristshot, snapshot,” says Chris Tanev.
The penalty-killing defenceman literally knocks wood when I ask if he’s ever borne the brunt of an Ovechkin blast.
“Incredible shot, and he’s so smart in finding the right space and pocket. A lot of guys can have a hard shot, but he’s able to get into good ice and find where the lanes are, to be able to accept pucks,” Tanev explains.
“He gets it off really quick. It’s more of a slingshot than a shot. He has sort of a general area where he wants to put it, and he just hits it as hard as he can — and it gets on goalies and defenders really quick.”
• The Leafs handed out custom hats and tees to celebrate Ekman-Larsson’s 1,000th game played, featuring a slick 1K tucked into an “OEL” logo, as the D-man’s phone blew up with congratulatory texts and calls.
“It’s hard to take in,” Ekman-Larsson said. “You always dream about playing that one game in the NHL, right? And I’ve had the chance to play 1,000 games, so it’s special. I have a lot of people to thank that I’m standing here.
“I don’t like to be in the spotlight and talk about myself, so I’m not crazy about that part, to be honest. But I’m trying to soak everything in, have fun with it, and look back on memory lane a little bit too.”
• Is there a more telling state of the Penguins-Capitals rivalry — or the clubs’ relevance in 2024-25 — than the former trading away a useful player, Lars Eller, to the latter for a couple of draft picks in mid-November?
Fondly nicknamed “Tiger,” Eller was a key member of Washington’s 2018 championship squad, scoring the franchise’s only Cup-clinching goal, and already has established chemistry with winger Jakub Vrana. He’s a bona fide 3C who can ease the pressure off young Hendrix Lapierre and Connor McMichael. The latter has transitioned nicely to wing, and the Caps don’t want to mess with that.
Shrewd of GM Chris Patrick for getting a jump on the rental market and securing a role player who should fit seamlessly into the Cap’s culture and game plan.
Eller is snapping faceoffs at a career-best 56 per cent.
“He’s familiar with the city, the organization, a ton of the players here. He trains here in the summer. So, there’s a lot of familiarity there with Lars and his skill-set, him as a person and his fit into a group,” Carbery said on local radio.
“To bring someone in that we’re very familiar with, that can give us depth at the centre position, which is going to be imperative as injuries (happen) and the season runs along, this will help quite a bit.”
• Nick Robertson, who has as many disallowed goals as legal goals (one) this season and got scratched for a third game: “I don’t have a good relationship with the puck right now, but I’m happy with my game.”
• Ryan Reaves hits so hard, he takes the boards with him:
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