Maple Leafs’ John Tavares hits rare milestone in most unfortunate way

If a milestone is reached in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

John Tavares scored his 500th goal Wednesday at Nationwide Arena, and it would be difficult to conjure more unfortunate circumstances to celebrate such a tremendous accomplishment.

The minds and televisions of sports fans in the hometown Tavares chose to come back to — and then chose, a few months ago, to double down and stick around for cheap — were almost exclusively dialled into the baseball game.

Rookie Trey Yesavage making World Series history with the type of performance Tavares himself will likely one day tell his grandkids about.

The lovable, resilient, big-game Blue Jays drawing within one win of a championship.

Vladimir Guerrero slappin’ da base.

Even the diehard puck loyalists who did tune in to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs get doubled up 6-3 by the Columbus Blue Jackets on a school night probably weren’t glued to the action with the Leafs down 6-1 and only 4:15 remaining in garbage time.

That’s when Tavares’s clean rush snipe past Elvis Merzlikins elevated him further into rarified air — only 48 other shooters in NHL history have lit the lamp as often — and atop the team lead in goals (six) and second in points (14). This despite sharing a dressing room with the likes of prime Auston Matthews and prime William Nylander, further evidence of Tavares’s endurance and consistency.

Sadly, in a barn where cannon blasts are routine, the phenomenal feat barely garnered a peep.

Heck, Tavares’s meaningless/meaningful goal itself might’ve been ruled offside upon review. But the Blue Jackets saw no need to bother wasting anyone’s time with the scoreboard already so lopsided when history struck.

Difficult to excite at the best of times, Tavares wasn’t about to celebrate a 6-2 goal.

“It’s really hard to comment on it right now. I understand the question,” Tavares told reporters in Ohio postgame. 

“But you play this game to win as a team. It’s all about the team, and you’d like to have it make more of an impact in the game. For sure in the moments ahead and the days ahead, I’ll appreciate it more.”

Among active players, only Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, and Evgeni Malkin are also in Club 500. Future first-ballot Hall of Famers, all of them.

“It’s amazing. Can’t say enough great things about Johnny, the person he is, the teammate, the professional that shows up to the rink every day,” Matthews said. “Feel very lucky to call him a great friend, a teammate, a guy that all of us are extremely happy for.” 

The way Craig Berube describes him, Tavares is no-maintenance. A coach’s dream.

“He’s so professional and dedicated — and he loves the Leafs,” Berube said. “He loves the team, and he just comes to work every night. He doesn’t ever take a night off. He doesn’t take a day off. Like, he’s always just doing his thing, working, highly competitive out there.”

Highly competitive isn’t the way observers would describe the team Tavares is playing for this month. 

The positive momentum Toronto built via grind-it-out home wins over Buffalo and Calgary dissipated swiftly in Columbus, as they surrendered two goals on the first four shots sent their way and never gained much traction.

Mismanagement of the puck, particularly in the neutral zone, fed the Blue Jackets’ transition attack. Rush defence remains a glaring issue, symptomatic of a five-man disconnect.

“When we have breakdowns, they’re just really significant and lead to high-quality chances for them,” Tavares said. “We’re a little bit too connected, just loose.

“It’s hurting us, obviously.”

Berube noted the frequency of forced plays and the lack of attention to detail: “We didn’t have it tonight, and we got burnt for it.”

Especially with Nylander sidelined and Matthews still searching for another gear, the Leafs can no longer outscore their opponent on a night where they commit 23 giveaways and dress their backup goalie.

“I don’t think it’s an effort thing. Guys worked hard. I thought we competed. Just when breakdowns happen and mistakes happen, they’re too big,” Matthews said.

“I think it’s more a cerebral thing than an effort thing.”

For Tavares, it’s always been both: the mind and the effort in unison, working toward a common goal. Five hundred times over.

Shame the moment fell on deaf ears, in a road rink, on a channel no one was watching.

• Nylander has missed two of the past three games due to a lower-body injury he’s been managing since he got cross-checked by Jason Zucker Friday. The Leafs’ best player and his coach are both being tight-lipped about the nature of his injury.

“I think he’s getting better, but he thought he could play last game, and he did. And I thought he played OK (in Tuesday’s win over Calgary). I mean, he did some good things in the game, and he played through it and helped us win,” Berube said. “So, I think he’ll be fine. I really do. You get two days after this before we play again.”

Despite sitting two games, Nylander still leads the team in points (15) and plus/minus (+5).

• With Nylander out, Sammy Blais finally made his Leafs debut 22 days after getting plucked off waivers from the Canadiens — and scored a greasy one by driving the net and having a rebound bounce off his shoulder and past Elvis Merzlikins.

“He’s a physical player. He likes to throw his body around on the forecheck,” said Berube, who won a Cup with Blais in St. Louis. “And he’s got really good hands. He’s good in tight with the puck and can do pretty incredible things with the puck. He’s got a good shot, too. But more so in anything, he’s a guy that’s going to go out there and finish his checks and try to make the other team uncomfortable.”

Blais tacked on an assist, threw a game-high five hits, took three shots, and had a takeaway. Not bad for coming in cold and getting 11 minutes of work.

“First game in the NHL in a year, so it felt really good. Really happy I played tonight and it went well,” Blais said.

• Cayden Primeau’s save percentage as a Maple Leaf: .838.

The Leafs’ next back-to-back is Nov. 8 (vs. Boston) and Nov. 9 (vs. Carolina).

• Just as one fourth-liner (Scott Laughton) nears a return, another goes out.

Steven Lorentz crashed hard shoulder-first into the end boards late in the second period and did not return to the game. He needs further evaluation.

• Funny, the day Matthew Knies got shifted to Tavares’s left wing, the 22-year-old was asked about the possibility of assisting on his new centreman and onetime billet dad’s magic goal No. 500.

Knies, 22, broke into a wide smile.

“It’d be sweet. I feel like we’re always talking about a milestone goal here,” Knies said. “That’s an astonishing achievement.”

Sure enough, Knies served up Tavares’s 500th with a nifty backhand saucer pass on the rush.