After seeing Dakota Joshua level teammate David Kampf with a huge hit on Saturday night, Leafs defenceman Mark Giordano didn’t hesitate to confront the 6-foot-3, 206-pound Canucks forward.
“Just how it goes,” the 40-year-old said. “Stand up for teammates.”
Giordano had not dropped the gloves since 2017.
“That Joshua, I mean, he’s a big boy,” Giordano said with a grin. “I went over there and I was like, oh boy, here we go.”
But Giordano held his own against the 27-year-old and landed his fair share of punches. Fans chanted “Gio! Gio!” as the league’s oldest player made his way to the penalty box.
Later in the period, Leafs centre Max Domi immediately dropped the gloves with Ian Cole after the Canucks defenceman crunched Nick Robertson with a big hit.
“That’s just how our game works,” said Domi. “When you see your buddy get hit, I mean, if you’re on the ice that’s just an instinct and a reaction.”
“It just shows the character of our group,” said Robertson. “He’s a skill guy too. He’s not really known as a fighter, but he has that feistiness in him and for him to stand up for me there, it’s great to see.”
Saturday’s scene stood in stark contrast to what happened on Nov. 2 in Boston. The Leafs didn’t muster much of a response after Bruins winger Brad Marchand tripped defenceman Timothy Liljegren into the boards in the first period. Liljegren sustained a high ankle sprain and is on long term injured reserve. The team had a meeting to address what happened and vowed to be better.
Joshua and Cole were not penalized for the initial hits on Saturday while Giordano and Domi were assessed instigator penalties. The Canucks scored on both power plays, but there were no regrets about how things played out.
“I think it’s more important we’re showing other teams that you’re not going to get away with things like that,” Giordano said. “We got to continue to step up and do those things. I think it goes a long way over the course of the season.”
“As a teammate you gotta answer the bell,” agreed Domi. “Unfortunately we weren’t able to kill that [penalty] off but, all in all, brought us together.”
The Leafs rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 down to win 5-2.
“You see that emotion and the guys sticking together,” said captain John Tavares. “We obviously want to get those kills, but it kind of came full circle with the way we defended the rest of the night on the penalty kill and the group staying together and staying with it and playing a solid 60 which we’ve talked about and we’ve needed to get to … When guys put a lot on the line, stick up for one another, it just shows the camaraderie and how much guys enjoy being around each other and how tight knit it is in here.”
Kampf stayed in the game on Saturday, but was not on the ice at Monday’s practice.
“Kampf is going to be fine,” said coach Sheldon Keefe. “He just needs some of the swelling to go down on his face from the ‘clean’ hit to the head that he took.”
Domi’s father, Tie Domi, is the all-time fights leader in the NHL.
“Pretty comfortable with it,” the 28-year-old said of fighting. “It’s part of my DNA. At the same time, it’s not something you’re going to look for, but if it comes knocking, never going to turn it down. It’s part of the game and always will be. It’s a huge part of the game.”
What’s the best advice his dad has given him about fighting?
“I can’t give you all my secrets or his secrets (smile). If one of your teammates gets hit or is injured or something … you’re expected to jump in there and he’s echoed that to me my whole life so that’s probably the main thing.”
Domi, who broke his thumb during a fight in his second NHL season, played with Cole during the 2021-22 season when both were on the Carolina Hurricanes.
“He’s an honest guy and not trying to hurt guys out there,” Domi said. “He plays hard. Big, strong guy. So, great dude. Obviously he wasn’t trying to hurt Robbie but, at the same time, as a teammate you gotta answer the bell.”
Robertson, 22, required stitches to his ear after the hit.
“It’s hockey,” the 5-foot-9 winger said. “You’re going to get hit. I’m not going to sit here and cry about the hit. It is what it is. So, I just take it like that. I’m happy Max stepped up for me and away we go.”
Robertson scored later in the game.
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