from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

All of the doubts, all of the angst, all of the anger and frustration and bewilderment that has been Toronto Maple Leafs hockey this last decade?

It’s all gone.

This is truly the dawn of a new era for the Maple Leafs, who are headed to the playoffs in their first season with a rebuilt core.

“I told the coaches at the start of the year that if we got in it was going to be tomorrow in Game 82,” Mike Babcock said after a stomach-turning 5-3 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night. “I thought it would be like this – you have to really crawl in at the end. We’re one game ahead of schedule.

“But, to be honest with you, I didn’t know the kids could be this good.”

No one did. No one could.

They have lifted the franchise further, and faster, then Brendan Shanahan or Lou Lamoriello or Babcock once thought reasonable.

When everything hung in the balance against the Penguins – after No. 1 goalie Frederik Andersen had been knocked out of the game with an injury, and Jake Guentzel put the visitors ahead on a goal that pinballed off the skates of Nikita Zaitsev and Jake Gardiner – it was the kids that pulled them through.

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