At the end of an exacting, bordering-on-traumatic few weeks that seemed to trigger waves of consternation and self-doubt, the Toronto Maple Leafs completed a long, drawn-out and highly satisfying exhale on Saturday night.
Feet kicked up on the table after five wins from their last five games, and with each coming more impressive than the last, the Leafs seem to have now reclaimed their regular season identity and rescued a season that went almost immediately haywire at its outset.
Toronto only just returned to its darkest timeline on the second Saturday night of the season with a humiliating and hauntingly familiar loss of the road in Pittsburgh.