The Toronto Maple Leafs got a huge 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 11, and just about everything went right for them. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov put together a great performance, William Nylander extended his team-record season-opening point streak to 15 games, and many of the Original Six club’s bottom-six forwards got on the scoresheet. This proved to be a recipe for success, and they naturally got the two points because of it.
However, one aspect of this game that should not be overlooked is 40-year-old defenceman Mark Giordano‘s fight against 6-foot-3 Canucks forward Dakota Joshua. The veteran showed that he could still handle the rough parts of the game and handled himself wonderfully against a tough opponent in Joshua. Following the game, Giordano told reporters that he “definitely (had) no regrets” dropping the gloves, especially because the Maple Leafs got the win. To hear Giordano’s full comments, check out the video below.
While this fight was not the biggest moment of the Maple Leafs’ game, it proved to be impactful and certainly showed that Giordano is a wonderful teammate to have. Let’s dive into this a bit more now.
Giordano Sends Message Standing Up for Kampf
Giordano is not necessarily known as being a fighter, but he felt that he needed to stand up for Maple Leafs forward David Kampf. Joshua threw a hard hit on Kampf that knocked the 6-foot-2 forward on the ice. As Giordano noted to reporters, he was “fired up” by the event, and you could see it evidently by how well he did in the scrap against the favoured Joshua.
It is always fantastic to see a player stand up for his teammate, and Giordano did just that. The former Calgary Flames and Seattle Kraken captain is continuing to show that he is a marvelous leader in the NHL, even without the ‘C’ in Toronto. With that, he also sent a message to the league that the Maple Leafs will not let other clubs push them around, as he noted while talking to reporters.
Giordano Fight Woke Up Maple Leafs
Giordano noted in his postgame comments that he felt he had far more energy during the game after the fight. That was certainly noticeable not only for him but also for the entire Maple Leafs roster. Before this early first-period fight, the game was tied 0-0, but the Maple Leafs had just one shot on goal. The Canucks, meanwhile, had more momentum at that point. Yet, that changed significantly after Giordano’s fight, as the final score displays.
Perhaps Giordano’s leadership and tenacity in this play will inspire the Maple Leafs to continue to play in this fashion. This win against the Canucks was a great team effort, and Giordano deserves a plethora of credit for it, even if he did not get on the scoresheet.