SAN JOSE, Calif. \u2014\u00a0Three in the net, three tacos you get.<\/p>\n
The game wasn\u2019t 22 minutes old when SAP Center\u2019s 15,000-plus burst into a thunderous roar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not only had the plucky home team built a 3-0 lead, but San Jose\u2019s shooters had already met Taco Bell\u2019s promotional quota for everyone who paid to watch the up-and-coming Sharks outskate the downtrodden Maple Leafs to redeem their ticket for a savoury snack.<\/p>\n
Yes, on the night Toronto\u2019s nine-year playoff streak was officially crunched, it was\u00a0raining tacos<\/a>\u00a0in Northern California.<\/p>\n What happened in The Tank Thursday night was also good for the tank in Toronto.<\/p>\n \u201cThey come out hot. They were buzzing. They got two goals right off the bat,\u201d Simon Benoit<\/a> said, following a 4-1 loss the wild-card-hunting Sharks.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have momentum. They\u2019re fighting for that spot. So, everything is urgency for them \u2014 and for us. You know, everybody\u2019s playing for something, even though\u2026 I think we\u2019re eliminated, right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Anyone in Toronto who stayed up late for a 10:08 p.m. ET puck drop saw two franchises passing each other in the natural competitive cycle that is the NHL\u2019s salary cap era.<\/p>\n The Sharks bottomed out not so long ago and were rewarded with saviour Macklin Celebrini<\/a>, not unlike the Maple Leafs pulling the plug in 2016 to scoop Auston Matthews. They\u2019ve missed the playoffs six straight times, watching attendance and interest and talent drain away.<\/p>\n But today, they\u2019ve won four in a row straight. They\u2019re playing fast and free and find themselves playing house-money hockey with two weeks left on the calendar.\u00a0<\/p>\n Amazing what the hope of youth can do to energize a building, to say nothing of free fast food.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great building,\u201d Leafs coach Craig Berube said. \u201cBack in the day, coming in here was a tough place to play. First period was like, \u2018Woah.\u2019 I mean, you gotta get out of the first period. But they\u2019re definitely getting that attitude back here with their team.\u201d<\/p>\n The Maple Leafs mustered merely six shots in the first period and five in the second. They were so hesitant to advance the puck and to rip it on net.<\/p>\n The Sharks, who\u2019d just won an emotional comeback game here less than 24 hours prior, attacked the night with abandon.<\/p>\n