On Wednesday night, thousands of Toronto Maple Leafs fans got more or less exactly what they wanted: a win, and a John Tavares goal.

After signing a seven-year, $77 million deal to don the blue and white, all eyes were on Tavares in his homecoming and he didn’t disappoint, despite a bit of a clunky effort for the team as a whole.

The contest clearly goes down as a positive debut for Tavares, but what exactly did he bring to the table? Here’s a closer look, starting — naturally, I suppose — with his first goal as a Maple Leaf.

The Big Moment

There are two blatant displays of elite skill on this play. The first is the way Tavares absolutely embarrasses Matthew Peca with his a stop-and-go off the rush. The second is the shot itself. Even after Tavares puts Peca behind him there are still three players — two Canadiens and one Maple Leaf — between him and the net, and an elite goaltender between the pipes. His lane to shoot is incredibly narrow, but he makes it look easy.

Interestingly, Tavares shot from an incredibly similar spot earlier in the period, and he clearly targeted the same corner but couldn’t fine the twine.

Given another opportunity, he made no mistake.

Going to the Net

One of the biggest intrigues about the role Tavares will play with the Maple Leafs is his current placement as the top power play’s net-front presence. It worked in preseason and he has the hands and size to do it, but there’s an argument to be made that it’s not the best use of his talents considering his ability to pass the puck.

Tavares got a golden opportunity to score point-blank on the team’s first power play, but couldn’t find the back of the net.

It was a bit of a tricky angle, and the play was far from an indictment on his ability to play his part on the power play. If anything, he did well to spring free in that position. However, if Tavares doesn’t bury a few in tight, at some point Toronto might begin to wonder if he’d be better on one of the walls or the slot. Maple Leafs fans have been spoiled by James van Riemsdyk’s unmatched net-front abilities in recent years, and even a player as talented as Tavares will have a hard time replicating it.

Going to the net won’t just be a theme for the 28-year-old on the power play. Perimeter playmaker Mitch Marner will be looking to find Tavares in close all season and the 209 lbs centre is certainly not shy about going to the dirty areas.

Early in the second period he drew a penalty and generated a scoring chance by driving to the net off the rush.

A lot of the time Zach Hyman will be the man on his line going into the blue ice, but the way Tavares buzzes the net will be interesting to watch all season.

The Subtle Plays

Tavares isn’t a player like Connor McDavid, who’s going to thrill with speed, or Alex Ovechkin, whose power and physicality truly pop. Instead, often what’s best about Tavares’ game are the little plays that go virtually unnoticed within the context of a chaotic hockey game.

A perfect example of this came in the second period when the Maple Leafs power play seemed to be scrambling, but Tavares brought it right back on track with a quick little puck recovery and a pass that had set up a great two-on-one opportunity.

Behind-the-back passes have an inherent danger level, but for a player of Tavares’s calibre it’s hard to complain. Especially when he’s turning a breakdown into a top-notch chance.

Tavares also played a sneaky-big role in the goal that won the game for the Maple Leafs. In a three-on-three situation, possession is absolutely essential and before he ended his shift, Tavares won a battle in the corner and retained the puck, putting it back to Jake Gardiner.

That play’s not making any highlight reels, but he survives contact and keeps the puck away from two Canadiens — and it allows Gardiner to restart the game-winning rush. When you look at the GIF below, you can see Tavares in the picture just getting off the ice after a job well done.

The Miscues

Although there was a lot to like from Tavares, it wasn’t a perfect outing. His line spent more time hemmed in its own end than the Maple Leafs would have liked — a criticism that applies to virtually anyone on the team.

He did make a few particularly ugly turnovers, though, both coming in the third peroid. The first was a lazy effort to get the puck up the wall that resulted in a good chance for the Canadiens’ most dangerous scorer, Brendan Gallagher.

These type of plays happen all the time, but the defensively-responsible Tavares normally produces a better effort than a weak backhand like that.

With less than two minutes left in the game, he made his worst mistake of the night, one that almost cost the Maple Leafs the game.

That’s the kind of goof that makes a coach lose hair in chunks, as it resulted in another big chance for Gallagher. A lesser player could earn a night in the press box for a mistake like that. It could have been an extremely ugly end to the night for Tavares, but Gallagher wasn’t able to make good and the Maple Leafs’ centre was able to contribute in overtime.

All-in-all, it’s hard to complain about what Tavares accomplished on Day 1. He scored, his led his team in shots, he logged both power play and penalty kill time and he won more than half of his faceoffs. He wasn’t perfect, but if that’s the worst of his homecoming jitters, he’s going to be in for a heck of a year.

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