NEW YORK: A Toronto night that began with 21 seconds of silence for Purée Salming duly ended.
The decisive goal in the match against San Jose was scored by Swede Pierre Engvall – then Mitch Marner managed to score a club record touchdown into an empty net.
– We are very happy because we were able to win many games in the end for Pori, says Engvall after the 3-1 victory.
And so, the Maple Leafs played their first home game since the death of Borgy Salming last night, against the San Jose Sharks, and as we told you in the article here, the evening kicked off with a memorial moment for the Swedish club icon – including a silent 21. Seconds.
The champions of the day then went on to honor him with an outstanding effort on the ice and eventually took their fifth consecutive win.
However, it was tight, Erik Carlsson & Co. put up a very good resistance and in the third period it was 1-1.
But with two and a half minutes left in the game, Pierre Engvall took advantage of the rebound and headed in what became the decisive goal of the match.
Of course, it was so, with a Swedish champion, that evening would end.
“It’s really sad, what happened, but we’re very happy because we managed to win a lot of games in the end for him,” Engvall says when he meets the media afterwards.
Börje will live forever in Toronto.
Before the final whistle, Mitch Marner made it 3-1 in an empty box as well, thus scoring in eighteen consecutive matches – a club record.
As expected, the 25-year-old, who was born and raised in the area, received a warm welcome.
– Very special. I was a big Maple Leafs fan as a kid and never thought something like this would happen, he says.
Calle Järnkrok was forced to abandon the match due to a thigh injury.
He’ll be out for a while, Coach Sheldon Keefe announced.