If a milestone is reached in a forest and nobody is round to listen to it, does it make a sound?
John Tavares scored his five hundredth objective Wednesday at Nationwide Enviornment, and it will be tough to conjure extra unlucky circumstances to have fun such an amazing accomplishment.
The minds and televisions of sports activities followers within the hometown Tavares selected to return again to — after which selected, a number of months in the past, to double down and stick round for affordable — had been nearly completely dialled into the baseball sport.
Rookie Trey Yesavage making World Collection historical past with the kind of efficiency Tavares himself will doubtless sooner or later inform his grandkids about.
The lovable, resilient, big-game Blue Jays drawing inside one win of a championship.
Vladimir Guerrero slappin’ da base.
Even the diehard puck loyalists who did tune in to look at the Toronto Maple Leafs get doubled up 6-3 by the Columbus Blue Jackets on a college evening in all probability weren’t glued to the motion with the Leafs down 6-1 and solely 4:15 remaining in rubbish time.
That’s when Tavares’s clear rush snipe previous Elvis Merzlikins elevated him additional into rarified air — solely 48 different shooters in NHL historical past have lit the lamp as typically — and atop the group lead in targets (six) and second in factors (14). This regardless of sharing a dressing room with the likes of prime Auston Matthews and prime William Nylander, additional proof of Tavares’s endurance and consistency.
Sadly, in a barn the place cannon blasts are routine, the exceptional feat barely garnered a peep.
Heck, Tavares’s meaningless/significant objective itself would possibly’ve been dominated offside upon assessment. However the Blue Jackets noticed no must trouble losing anybody’s time with the scoreboard already so lopsided when historical past struck.
Tough to excite at the perfect of instances, Tavares wasn’t about to have fun a 6-2 objective.
“It’s actually laborious to touch upon it proper now. I perceive the query,” Tavares informed reporters in Ohio postgame.
“However you play this sport to win as a group. It’s all concerning the group, and also you’d wish to have it make extra of an impression within the sport. For certain within the moments forward and the times forward, I’ll respect it extra.”
Amongst lively gamers, solely Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, and Evgeni Malkin are additionally in Membership 500. Future first-ballot Corridor of Famers, all of them.
“It’s wonderful. Can’t say sufficient nice issues about Johnny, the individual he’s, the teammate, the skilled that exhibits as much as the rink day-after-day,” Matthews mentioned. “Really feel very fortunate to name him an excellent pal, a teammate, a man that every one of us are extraordinarily blissful for.”
The best way Craig Berube describes him, Tavares is no-maintenance. A coach’s dream.
“He’s so skilled and devoted — and he loves the Leafs,” Berube mentioned. “He loves the group, and he simply involves work each evening. He doesn’t ever take an evening off. He doesn’t take a day off. Like, he’s at all times simply doing his factor, working, extremely aggressive on the market.”
Extremely aggressive isn’t the best way observers would describe the group Tavares is enjoying for this month.
The optimistic momentum Toronto constructed through grind-it-out residence wins over Buffalo and Calgary dissipated swiftly in Columbus, as they surrendered two targets on the primary 4 pictures despatched their method and by no means gained a lot traction.
Mismanagement of the puck, notably within the impartial zone, fed the Blue Jackets’ transition assault. Rush defence stays a obtrusive situation, symptomatic of a five-man disconnect.
“When we’ve got breakdowns, they’re simply actually vital and result in high-quality probabilities for them,” Tavares mentioned. “We’re a bit bit too linked, simply free.
“It’s hurting us, clearly.”
Berube famous the frequency of pressured performs and the dearth of consideration to element: “We didn’t have it tonight, and we received burnt for it.”
Particularly with Nylander sidelined and Matthews nonetheless trying to find one other gear, the Leafs can not outscore their opponent on an evening the place they commit 23 giveaways and gown their backup goalie.
“I don’t suppose it’s an effort factor. Guys labored laborious. I assumed we competed. Simply when breakdowns occur and errors occur, they’re too huge,” Matthews mentioned.
“I believe it’s extra a cerebral factor than an effort factor.”
For Tavares, it’s at all times been each: the thoughts and the trouble in unison, working towards a standard objective. 5 hundred instances over.
Disgrace the second fell on deaf ears, in a highway rink, on a channel nobody was watching.
• Nylander has missed two of the previous three video games on account of a lower-body harm he’s been managing since he received cross-checked by Jason Zucker Friday. The Leafs’ greatest participant and his coach are each being tight-lipped concerning the nature of his harm.
“I believe he’s getting higher, however he thought he might play final sport, and he did. And I assumed he performed OK (in Tuesday’s win over Calgary). I imply, he did some good issues within the sport, and he performed by means of it and helped us win,” Berube mentioned. “So, I believe he’ll be tremendous. I actually do. You get two days after this earlier than we play once more.”
Regardless of sitting two video games, Nylander nonetheless leads the group in factors (15) and plus/minus (+5).
• With Nylander out, Sammy Blais lastly made his Leafs debut 22 days after getting plucked off waivers from the Canadiens — and scored a greasy one by driving the web and having a rebound bounce off his shoulder and previous Elvis Merzlikins.
“He’s a bodily participant. He likes to throw his physique round on the forecheck,” mentioned Berube, who received a Cup with Blais in St. Louis. “And he’s received actually good fingers. He’s good in tight with the puck and may do fairly unbelievable issues with the puck. He’s received a superb shot, too. However extra so in something, he’s a man that is going to go on the market and end his checks and attempt to make the opposite group uncomfortable.”
Blais tacked on an help, threw a game-high 5 hits, took three pictures, and had a takeaway. Not unhealthy for coming in chilly and getting 11 minutes of labor.
“First sport within the NHL in a yr, so it felt actually good. Actually blissful I performed tonight and it went nicely,” Blais mentioned.
• Cayden Primeau’s save share as a Maple Leaf: .838.
The Leafs’ subsequent back-to-back is Nov. 8 (vs. Boston) and Nov. 9 (vs. Carolina).
• Simply as one fourth-liner (Scott Laughton) nears a return, one other goes out.
Steven Lorentz crashed laborious shoulder-first into the top boards late within the second interval and didn’t return to the sport. He wants additional analysis.
• Humorous, the day Matthew Knies received shifted to Tavares’s left wing, the 22-year-old was requested about the potential for helping on his new centreman and onetime billet dad’s magic objective No. 500.
Knies, 22, broke into a large smile.
“It’d be candy. I really feel like we’re at all times speaking a couple of milestone objective right here,” Knies mentioned. “That’s an astonishing achievement.”
Positive sufficient, Knies served up Tavares’s five hundredth with a nifty backhand saucer cross on the frenzy.
