As time passed after Simon Benoit's overtime-winner for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3 against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, his phone continued filling up with messages cheering him on.

Instead, it was a 26-year-old, third-pair defenseman from Laval, Quebec, who proved to be the difference-maker by beating goalie Linus Ullmark at 1:19 of overtime to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 victory against the Ottawa Senators in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round at a raucous Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.

Simon Benoit was as stunned as you were. It’s hard to act like you’ve been there before when you haven’t. So, when the Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman uncorked a blistering point shot off another successful offensive-zone faceoff and saw his missile zip through converging traffic and bulge the twine behind a blinded Linus Ullmark,