'An absolute stud': Kadri lifts Leafs to surprise series lead

TORONTO – As fans sat silent, attempting to unpack the two-goal deficit the Toronto Maple Leafs dug themselves versus the Washington Capitals five minutes into the city’s first home playoff game in four years, Nazem Kadri was close to combustion on the bench.

He had just returned after his line failed woefully in its attempts to take back the goal they had coughed up shifts before. Misused aggression saw Kadri spilled on three separate collisions, and now wiping snow off his gear.

He wasn’t just mad; if you asked him, he was quite literally fuming while waiting for his next shift.

“I had smoke coming out of my ears,” he said. “So I felt like I had to do something about it.”

Kadri was sent over the boards again prior to detonation, and (with the smoke now forming a jet stream at his back) channeled his mounting aggression perfectly, landing two thunderous body blows on Brooks Orpik in a span of 28 seconds.

His contact, coupled with linemate Leo Komarov roughing up Alex Ovechkin, gave the crowd new life. And more importantly, spurred on the bench that had a front-row view of Kadri’s second smash on the bruising defender.

“We’re not going to be a group that’s intimidated,” he said afterwards. “If we get knocked down, we’re getting right back up and going after them.”

Evidently inspired, Auston Matthews replaced Kadri immediately after the second collision, wound up and stormed across the blue line with the puck, fired, and batted the rebound he tracked into the back of the net.

Matthews’ first career playoff goal, scored before the fans stopped roaring for Kadri, had the Maple Leafs within one.

“Changed the game,” Morgan Rielly said firmly of Kadri’s shift.

And therefore, the series.

But there was more to Kadri’s performance on Monday, his hits being merely the pivot point in a game in which the Maple Leafs took an unforeseen 2-1 series lead over the back-to-back Presidents’ Trophy winners with a 4-3 triumph in overtime.

Kadri brought the Leafs to within one a second time in the contest with a swinging wrist shot from the point, which used a touch off of (who else but) Orpik to evade Braden Holtby. Then, well after William Nylander’s second-period equalizer, Kadri accepted the puck along the half boards on a power-play opportunity early in the bonus frame and feathered a pass into the slot for Tyler Bozak to re-direct into the back of the net.

For two of the long-standing members of the Maple Leafs, who had been through veritable hell in their time with the franchise, it was a moment to treasure together.

“That might be the happiest I’ve ever been in my whole career,” Kadri said. “I can’t remember anything better.”

This delight was due.

Kadri had his moments in the limelight this season, his shutdown job on Connor McDavid which ended in an overtime winner with the supernova draped on his back immediately comes to mind. But, for the most part, it’s been the Maple Leafs rookies who have been celebrated most prominently in the franchise’s swift turnaround.

Kadri quietly authored the first 30-goal campaign of his career while emerging as the Maple Leafs’ most reliable shutdown center, responsibility that means anchoring a line that draws the opponent’s best night in and night out.

Even so, it may come as a surprise for some to witness Kadri tilt the ice against a top-line like Washington’s, which has achieved near-perfect balance with Alex Ovechkin’s finish, Nicklas Backstrom’s playmaking, and T.J. Oshie’s ancillary services.

But this is what the Leafs have now come to expect.

“Naz is a stud,” said Rielly. “He’s been great all year. He’s been hard to play against. He’s been a pest. He had a big goal tonight, a big play on the winning goal. Big hits. He did it all tonight.

“He’s an absolute stud.”