WATCH: Leafs fan's priceless reaction to 4-2 victory over Canadiens goes viral

By ARJUN B

Modified Apr 07, 2024 16:48 GMT

A Toronto Maple Leafs fan's priceless reaction to his team's 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night has gone viral. The video captured the diehard fan overwhelmed with emotion and unable to contain his excitement after the game.

See the video here:

The fan can be seen animatedly cheering, shouting "yes!" repeatedly, and holding up his Toronto jersey after the Leafs' win. The pure, infectious joy on the man's face has struck a chord with hockey fans on social media.

One fan wrote in response to the reaction:

"No, that’s excitement from a man who got to see his team play live possibly for the first time. The opponent doesn’t matter. He’s just enjoying himself."

After the match Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe shared his thoughts on how crucial it was to secure a victory against their standing rivals Montreal.

"I just thought we started playing with a lot more pace and simplicity to our game. When we do that, we are a lot to deal with. That segment of time was enough for us to win the game tonight." Keefe said.

Keefe on team's focus:

"We have a chance here to really narrow our focus on what we are playing for now, which is to get ourselves ready."

The win kept Toronto (44-23-9) firmly in third place in the Atlantic as they continue their postseason push.

Maple Leafs' 4-2 win over the Canadiens

Toronto jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead early in the second period courtesy of goals just 17 seconds apart from Max Domi and Auston Matthews. Matthews' goal was his 64th this season, drawing cheers from the Leafs' supporters in attendance.

Matthew Knies extended the Toronto advantage to 3-0 later in the second period with his third career NHL goal. Bobby McMann added another for the Leafs to make it 4-0 after two periods of play.

Montreal finally got on the board early in the third on a Nick Suzuki power play goal set up by a brilliant pass from fellow rookie Juraj Slafkovsky. Cole Caufield brought the Habs within two goals after finishing off a feed from Mike Matheson to make it 4-2. But that was as close as Montreal would get.

Matthews is currently on pace to score 69 goals this season, just shy of Alex Ovechkin's record of 65 goals in 2007-08. No player has reached 70 goals since 1992-93.

Goaltender Sam Montembeault was pulled for Montreal after allowing four goals on just 12 shots. Backup Cayden Primeau stopped all 18 shots he faced after coming on as relief. The Canadiens were missing key defensemen, Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj.

Toronto next faces the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday at Scotiabank Arena.