O'Reilly and Acciari both played significant minutes for the Leafs last night in their win over the Montreal Canadiens, with O'Reilly skating 16:12 in his first game in a Leafs sweater, while Acciari skated 14:22, which is a LOT of minutes for a 4th liner. O'Reilly also notched the first assist of what should be many as a Leaf, putting one shot on goal, going 12/14 in the faceoff dot and landing 2 hits. Acciari looked engaged as well, landing 5 hits in the contest and directing 5 pucks on net. While he had 2 golden opportunities, he finished the night without a point but both players made one heck of a good first impression.
Following the game, O'Reilly was even awarded the Leafs Championship belt, given out to the player who earns MVP of the night. As if going 85.7% in the faceoff dot and notching an assist wasn't impressive enough, O'Reilly made several astute defensive plays, showing his excellent hockey IQ and breaking up several plays before they had a chance to become high-danger chances. These are the things that really help a team win come playoff time and it's good to know that it's not lost on the Leafs just how impactful a guy like O'Reilly can be in all 3 zones.