Canadian hockey fans on Sunday celebrated the end of most COVID-19 restrictions in predictable fashion, packed into a football stadium in a raging blizzard to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres face off in the Heritage Classic.
It would be hard to imagine something more Canadian than 26,119 mostly Leafs supporters gathered in a stadium in a gritty Steeltown hard on the shores of a windswept Lake Ontario for a party that started with the “Great One” Wayne Gretzky headlining the ceremonial puck drop alongside Ukrainian defenseman Artur Cholach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts.
Situated midway between Toronto and Buffalo, “the Hammer,” as locals call Hamilton, provided ideal neutral ice for a contest that featured the Leafs, battling for top spot in the Eastern Conference standings and the Sabres fighting to stay out of the basement.
Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY
Vinnie Hinostroza had two goals and an assist, while Peyton Krebs scored twice as the Sabres defeated the Leafs 5-2.
Tage Thompson added an empty-net goal and Craig Anderson made 36 saves in the Sabres’ victory at a windy Tim Horton Field, home of the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Toronto’s Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 45th goal, Ondrej Kase also scored and Petr Mrazek made 31 saves.
Matthews faces a possible suspension for cross-checking Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and was yesterday set to have a hearing with the league’s department of player safety.
Thompson’s empty-netter with 2 minutes, 25 seconds left in regulation sealed it in front of the fans bundled up for the game in weather that felt like minus-7°C.
Crews had to clear snow off the ice a couple of times before warmups at the first regular-season game in Steeltown since March 1994, but the flurries mostly subsided once the action got underway in front of a sellout crowd.
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