Giordano and Max Domi both received instigating penalties after responding to hits from the Canucks and the Leafs overcame them in a 5-2 win.
Giordano and Max Domi both received instigating penalties after responding to hits from the Canucks and the Leafs overcame them in a 5-2 win.
There's been a lot of talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs and their lack of physical response.
Nine days after none of the Maple Leafs' responded to Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand injuring defenseman Timothy Liljegren after a trip along the corner boards, two Toronto players stepped up in defense of their teammates on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks.
Dakota Joshua laid a big hit on Maple Leafs center David Kampf early in the first period. Within seconds, 40-year-old Mark Giordano stepped into the Canuck forward and a long fight ensued.
"I thought it was a high hit a little bit," Giordano said. Just got to stand up for teammates."
Giordano received a two-minute instigator and a 10-minute misconduct in addition to his fighting major, J.T. Miller scored on the ensuing power play that gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead.
At the time, it may have looked like the wrong move. But as Giordano explained, sometimes the penalty is worth taking.
"I think it called for that in that moment and I think it got some energy in the building. It was good," he explained.
The crowd roared in appreciation for Giordano chanting 'GIO GIO', who held his own rather well against the 6-foot-3 Joshua.
Later in the period, Canucks defenseman Ian Cole delivered a big hit to Nick Robertson. Max Domi quickly got into with Cole and the Leafs found themselves in another penalty-killing situation as Domi received the same punishment as Giordano.
Like the first instigator, the Canucks took advantage when Pius Suter scored to help Vancouver get back in the lead 2-1.
But it was the last goal of the night. The Maple Leafs took control of the game shortly after and scored the next four goals of the game.
"Sometimes you need something like that to get yourself going, a couple of shifts where you don’t feel energy and I got right into the game after that even though I sat for about an hour after that," Giordano said. "I think it’s more important that we’re showing other teams that you’re not going to get away with things like that"
It's clear Giordano wasn't the only one fueled by the fights.
"It just fires everyone up," Robertson said. "He’s 40-years-old and he’s still fighting guys as well as Domer protecting me and standing up for me so it was great for those guys to get our energy up. I think it helped."
This was Toronto's most physical game in quite some time and says something when Ryan Reaves, who was expected to fill a role as somewhat of an intimidator, was a healthy scratch for the first time this season.
Instead, a new look line that saw Bobby McMann step into Reaves' spot was far more effective with McMann picking up two assists. Noah Gregor also had two points while David Kampf recorded his first goal of the season.
Sure, the instigators could have sunk the Leafs. But it's clear the actions before it helped them build some character as a team.
"To me, we built some good karma through that," Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "Despite the fact the pick went in the net there for us, it just seemed like it kind of pulled our team together to go out and play. It was great responses throughout the game and then a good job of managing the game from there"
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