Anticipating a healthy scratch when he arrived at the rink in the morning, Bobby McMann was putting the finishing touches on his first-career NHL hat trick just half a day later. McMann was one of many who stepped up in the absence of John Tavares, Mitch Marner, and Morgan Rielly in one of the Leafs' best team efforts of the season given the circumstances.
The Leafs rolled up their sleeves and brought their lunchpails to work in the first period, starting from the opening shift with the makeshift Tyler Bertuzzi - Max Domi - Nick Robertson line. The team's urgency, pace, battle level on the walls, puck support in all three zones, and work rate away from the puck were all sharp early. The team was rewarded accordingly with a 2-0 lead that could've been a couple more with better finishing from - you guessed it - Bertuzzi, who had two point-blank chances including a free-and-clear breakaway that he did not finish.
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