Midway through the first period, Ryan Reaves woke up the Scotiabank Arena crowd with a massive hit on Frederick Gaudreau and immediately fought Marcus Foligno while Gaudreau remained on the ice. It was a spirited tilt that saw the former teammates trade some heavy shots before the linesmen separated them. The shift from Reaves swung the momentum in the Leafs' favour and they didn't look back, securing a 7-4 win over the visiting Minnesota Wild.
Following the game, Auston Matthews, who scored his second hat-trick in as many games, awarded Reaves with the Maple Leafs championship belt, awarded to the player of the game after each win, and had this to say about the first year Leaf:
Reaves, along with Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi, have certainly brought the "snot" that Leafs' GM Brad Treliving was looking for this summer, as they have all been in the middle of scrums. However, the most impressive thing they have done is dragged the likes of John Tavares, Mitch Marner and Matthews into them as well and have gotten them to embrace the team battle mentality.
