Welcome to a new series that we’re going to use to help pass the time until training camp begins! The 2023-24 season was full of highs and lows, and while the year ended in all-too-familiar fashion for the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans in the playoffs, their ability to bring some exciting regular season hockey has never been in question. So, overlooking the playoffs and the rinse-and-repeat first-round fizzle-out, we decided to toss up a poll on Twitter/X and have Leafs fans vote on the Top 5 games of the season.
To kick things off at number five, we’re going to take things back to November 19th, 2023, when the Leafs travelled across the pond for a global series in Sweden along with the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, and Minnesota Wild. The Leafs opened their trip with a 3-2 win over the Red Wings and met the Wild two days later for their second and final game of the trip. Wild defenceman Jon Merrill didn’t waste much time opening the scoring, but Auston Matthews responded later in the game on the powerplay with his 14th goal of the season.
AND THE STREAK GOES ON! 😎 pic.twitter.com/HGccsohU7Z
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 19, 2023
About six minutes later, Matthew Knies buried his fifth goal of the season on a one-timer set up by Mitch Marner.
KNIESY!!!!! pic.twitter.com/RLSkQb6Mh8
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 19, 2023
Following a scoreless second period, Morgan Rielly added some further insurance in the third.
MO DADDY!! pic.twitter.com/NMvetM6uKX
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 19, 2023
But, as is always the case with the Leafs, it can never be that easy. The Leafs allowed two goals to the Wild before the end of the third period, coming from Jake Middleton and Mats Zuccarello, effectively tying the game at three and sending the game to overtime. Enter William Nylander, in the midst of a career year and absorbing every second of the spotlight in his home country, and a highlight reel goal to send the Leafs back home with a Global Series Sweep.
For a guy who was under such an absurd amount of scrutiny for holding out of the first few months of 2018-19 during contract negotiations, some of which still rears its ugly head and there, Nylander has done a complete 180 to win over the fans who held any sort of animosity for him because of that holdout. He’s continually gotten better every year, including a career year in 2023-24 that saw him record career highs in goals (40) assists (58) and points (98), and his performance earned him a brand new eight-year contract worth $11.5 million annually. For a team that’s constantly under criticism for their inability to put together any meaningful playoff success, Nylander has arguably been their most consistent player when the games get tough and has found a knack for scoring goals in big moments.
It was well-documented how he was treated like royalty in Sweden, making appearances on talk shows, constantly making media appearances, and, in true storybook fashion, scoring a highlight reel goal in overtime to win the game for his team in his home country. Some people are just built for the spotlight, and Wee Willy Nylander is no different.
