Leafs' Jake Muzzin becomes a father, plays his best game of the series on 'not much' sleep

Life has been quite the roller coaster for Jake Muzzin as of late.

On Friday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs blueliner played a postseason-high 22:03 in his side’s 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. In the process, Toronto grabbed a 3-2 advantage in the first round best-of-seven series.

It wasn’t just the quantity of minutes that he played, though. The quality was there as well.

The native of Woodstock, Ont. was stellar defensively and his silky pass set up Auston Matthews’ opening (controversial) goal of the game midway through the third period.

When you consider the fact that he was playing after getting basically no sleep, the performance becomes even more impressive.

Muzzin’s wife, Courtney, had the couple’s first child on Thursday, according to Lance Hornby. Most importantly, both his wife and their little girl are doing well. However, it put the 30-year-old defenceman in an interesting spot.

His flight to meet the team in Boston was delayed and he barely got any sleep that night during his travels.

“It’s been crazy,” said Muzzin following the win, according to TSN’s Mark Masters. “I don’t recommend having a baby in the playoffs.”

When asked how much shut-eye he got in the past 24 hours, he simply replied “not much.”

According to Toronto’s head coach Mike Babcock, Courtney didn’t seem to be too concerned about the whole situation, though.

“I was talking to his (Muzzin’s) bride the other night and she was just matter of fact, ‘We’re having a baby, he’ll be there on time and he’ll be ready to play,” recalled Babcock following Game 5, according to Masters.

Based on the results, it’s tough to argue that.

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