Young Leafs fan's night goes from crushing disappointment to dream come true

The Toronto Maple Leafs turned a negative into a positive for one lucky fan at Amalie Arena on Tuesday night.

In the second half of a back-to-back, the Maple Leafs rested several regulars against the Tampa Bay Lightning, including superstars Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews. The only problem was one young fan named Blake travelled all the way to Florida to see both All-Stars in action.

Blake crafted a sign to bring to the game, saying he came to watch his heroes — Matthews and Marner — which TSN’s broadcast captured on-air.

The Maple Leafs acted swiftly on this situation, though, and began trying to locate Blake in the crowd. Upon doing so, the team invited Blake to meet Marner and Matthews after the game to make up for the disappointment of his two favourite players being out of the lineup.

But it got even better from there as Blake received a signed Matthews stick and took a picture with his two idols. Matthews and Marner also signed his poster and t-shirt in a moment he’ll surely cherish forever.

On the ice, the Leafs didn't seem to miss their two superstars as rookie goaltender Joseph Woll led Toronto to a 4-3 victory. William Nylander, Luke Schenn, Calle Jarnkrok and Ryan O’Reilly provided the scoring for the visitors, while Alex Killorn, Nick Perbix and Mikhail Sergachev countered for the Lightning.

These two Atlantic Division heavyweights will be seeing a lot of each other in the near future, as they are set to renew their heated rivalry in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. You can bet Matthews and Marner will be rested up and ready once the series begins next week.