翱罢罢础奥础鈥Maple Leafs defenceman Simon Benoit was pretty quick to agree that his goal in overtime on Thursday night was the biggest of his life.
鈥淚 don’t score many goals,鈥 said Benoit. 鈥淚t’s fun. In the playoffs, it’s not always the same guys.鈥
Benoit had only two regular-season goals over two seasons with the Leafs and none in the playoffs听鈥 NHL, AHL or major junior 鈥 before ripping that one past Linus Ullmark to give the Leafs a 3-2 win and a three-games-to-none stranglehold on their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Ottawa Senators.
鈥淚 guess in the playoffs anything can happen, and I guess luck is a bit on my side for now,鈥 said Benoit. 鈥淚 didn’t quite know how to react, to be honest. I just lifted both my arms and didn’t move, and I saw those guys coming toward me. So it’s a nice feeling.鈥
SIMON BENOIT WINS IT FOR THE LEAFS!!!
鈥 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet)
Benoit is the epitome of an unsung overtime hero, with his big hits and blocked shots. But scoring heroics? He led the rush and made the pass to Max Domi for the OT winner on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena before going one better at the Canadian Tire Centre with his slapshot, off an Auston Matthews faceoff win, just 1:19 into the extra frame.
鈥淏enoit has played extremely well for us defensively, and being hard to play against,鈥 said coach Craig Berube. 鈥淪o it’s nice when guys like that are rewarded with a big goal. Very happy.鈥
The goal was initially credited to Matthew Knies, thinking there was a deflection, but changed to Benoit. Even if it was Knies who redirected the puck, he wasn’t getting in the way of his teammate’s first playoff goal.
鈥淚t’s going to stay as Benny’s,鈥 said Knies. 鈥淗e’s had a great playoffs. He’s playing physical. He’s doing everything that we ask of him. I’m sure it feels great for him, and guys are so happy in the room.鈥
Benoit’s performance was such that the NHL’s stats keepers took notice: He scored the 10th-fastest overtime goal by a defenceman in Stanley Cup playoff history, and became the seventh defenceman with a hand in two overtime winners in a row. He also scored the third-fastest overtime goal in Leafs history.
WELCOME TO THE SERIES, AUSTON MATTHEWS 馃棧锔忦煑ｏ笍馃棧锔
鈥 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet)
鈥淭he last two overtimes, he’s made big plays for our team,鈥 said Matthews, who scored his first goal of the post-season. 鈥淗e’s come up big on the offensive side of the puck and on the defensive side. You need guys like that to step up. This time of year, it takes a full group effort.鈥
Benoit’s goal quieted a robust, take-no-prisoners, pro-Ottawa crowd that, among other things, jeered Matthews’s hairline, chanted that pending free-agent Mitch Marner is 鈥渓eaving鈥 and otherwise enjoyed an evening of big hits, big saves and plenty of penalties.
鈥淚t was awesome,鈥 said Ottawa coach Travis Green, sounding hoarse. 鈥淗ear my voice? I was trying to yell over them, just trying to get line matchups and who was up next. It was everything we envisioned.鈥
Just like Cory Cross
Benoit will never be confused with the great puck rushers such as Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque. But he might be favourably compared to Cory Cross, a depth defenceman听 who scored in overtime of Game 3 for the Leafs against the Senators back in 2001. The Leafs swept that series. They will try to do it again on Saturday.
鈥淭he fourth one is the hardest one to win,鈥 said Matthews. 鈥淲e can’t take our foot off the gas. We have to be ready to play. They’re going to be a desperate team on Saturday and we need to be ready with a response.鈥
Historically speaking, teams that lead three games to none in a best-of-seven have won 207 of 211 series.
Former Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph, beat reporter Kevin McGran and columnist Dave Feschuk
Over in the Ottawa room, they held their heads high. They think they are still right with the Leafs having gone to overtime twice.
鈥淭here’s not much I would say to them right now that’s going to help to make them feel any better,鈥 said Green. 鈥淚t’s disheartening. Both teams played a hell of a game. Sometimes playoff hockey comes down little inches or bounces, and we were on the wrong end of it.鈥
Pacioretty checks in
The Leafs made one lineup change, inserting forward Max Pacioretty for Nick Robertson. Pacioretty hadn’t played since Feb. 8 after an undisclosed injury suffered in practice.
鈥淚 waited a little bit here for this,鈥 said Pacioretty. 鈥淚’ve put in a lot of work and had a lot of great people in my corner.鈥
Pacioretty didn’t look out of place. He was minus-one in 12 minutes and 24 seconds of action with one shot on net, seven hits and a takeaway.听
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