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Leafs win! Leafs win!

Phil Kessel

Phil Kessel

AP

For the first time since Jan. 9 and only the second time in 2015, the Toronto Maple Leafs won a hockey game.

They ended an 11-game losing streak on Saturday night, an accomplishment that probably won’t be tarnished by the fact that it came against the lowly Edmonton Oilers. At least, it probably won’t tarnish it for the Leafs’ players and executives, who must feel an incredible sense of relief right now.

(Brendan Shanahan looked that way when shown in the press box, at least.)

Fittingly, it was this close to being a perfect victory, but Luke Gadzic scored with seconds remaining to spoil James Reimer’s shutout bid. Still, a 5-1 victory prompted cheers from the home crowd.

MORE: Click here for Morgan Rielly’s stupendous goal.

The Leafs would have to pull off a momentous run to make this more than a mere face-saving victory. Reimer seems to have some belief that Toronto can do just that:

They have a long, long way to go for that to be anything more than wishful thinking. Still, a win’s a win, and this one was a fairly impressive one in that. At least after a pretty weak overall first period.

(Note: apologies to Cam Tucker for swiping his headline format.)

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins