With a millstone around their necks from an inconsistent start, Saturday was not a night to talk milestones for the Maple Leafs.
But two significant ones were reached at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto's 4-3 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken.
John Tavares' two goals represented 500 points with his second team, having recorded 621 with the New York Islanders. He becomes one of only four players in NHL history to reach 500-plus with two franchises.
The 500/500 club includes three Hall of Famers, Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings), Mark Messier (Oilers and New York Rangers) and Ron Francis (Carolina Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Francis is also a former Leaf and now president of the Kraken.
Eventually prodded into reflecting on his accomplishment in the gloom of the loss, Tavares spoke of being given a stage "with two great franchises" and said the points "speak volumes" about teammates and coaches in his 16-year career.
"That's been part of the journey," he said. "I've really enjoyed it and I want to keep going."
It was a game that showed how much Tavares still has in the tank at age 35, having agreed to a hometown discount to stay in Toronto after his initial seven-year, $77-million US contract ran out last summer. He also gave up the captaincy to Auston Matthews.
He's held his second-line centre and first power-play unit roles and on Saturday scored on his only two shots of the contest, while winning seven of 12 faceoffs.
"It's incredible," teammate Rielly said. "He's just a hockey player through and through, a pro.
"It's been a joy to play with him and watch him operate. He deserves to be in that (Gretzky-Messier-Francis) company all day."
Tavares, with 1,121 points to tie former Toronto captain Darryl Sittler for 65th in league history, is also three goals shy of becoming the 49th player to reach 500 in that department.
Rielly found himself in a rare group as well after Saturday with 879 games in Toronto colours, third among defencemen behind only Hall members Tim Horton (1,184 games) and Borje Salming 1,099. He passed Tomas Kaberle for the mark and now sits eighth overall in team history.
Rielly also wasn't keen on discussing it Saturday, though in an earlier interview with Postmedia, he said such accomplishments mean a lot in an Original Six city.
"That's the cool part about playing in this organization. There is great history, though it's not something I spend a lot of time thinking about. You just stay focused on your job and that stuff happens on its own.
"Yes, I take pride in it. As you get a little further along (it's the 31-year-old's 13th NHL season), you come to respect the guys who were able to play those milestone games, be it 500, 1,000, whatever you're at. That's a point of pride with a lot of guys."
As Horton started a world-famous fast food and coffee chain and Salming sold athletic underwear when he retired, Rielly was quizzed about any post-career marketing plans.
"Nothing yet, but Horton did pretty well with donuts."