John Tavares scores a hat trick as the Maple Leafs steal a huge bounce-back win
Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares came through with a hat trick this evening against a Buffalo Sabres team that has been absolutely abysmal this season.
Coming into tonight's game, the Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase was pretty worried as the team had lost to the Detroit Red Wings the night before, and there was pressure to beat the Buffalo Sabres.
John Tavares lights it up for the Toronto Maple Leafs
However, despite all of the fears, it turned out that the Maple Leafs were more than up to the challenge, and this was especially true of John Tavares.
During tonight's game, Tavares had two goals in the second period, which gave his team a 4-3 lead through 40 minutes.
At the end of an uneventful third period, the former captain came through and scored again thanks to an empty netter.
This was by far Tavares' best game of the season, and it just proves that the guy can still play at a very elite level.
On top of this hat trick, the Maple Leafs were able to get goals out of Nick Robertson, and even Max Domi, who got his first of the year.
This effort led to a 5-3 win, which was a huge bounce back following what happened the night before against Detroit.
Additionally, this was the second win of Dennis Hildeby's career. Sure, he had a rough start, but he did what he had to do for the rest of the game.
Overall, the Maple Leafs get to live another day as far as the media scrutiny is concerned.
However, there are still some things that the team needs to clean up, especially on the defensive end. Morgan Rielly has not been himself, and it might be time to ask some serious questions.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 15 | 229 ANSWERS John Tavares scores a hat trick as the Maple Leafs steal a huge bounce-back win Were you impressed with John Tavares and the Toronto Maple Leafs in their win this evening? | ||
| YES | 218 | 95.2 % |
| NO | 11 | 4.8 % |
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