Mats Sundin. Doug Gilmour. Darryl Sittler. Wendel Clark.

The Team Sundin lineup for Sunday’s Hockey Hall of Fame Legends Classic was a Leafs fan’s dream. There were 1970s icons such as Lanny McDonald, crowd favourites such as Darcy Tucker and franchise-best players such as Borje Salming, the Leafs most prolific-scoring defenceman.

The good-natured game, marked by loose rules and playful on-ice banter at the Air Canada Centre, ended in a shootout after two periods. The team captained by 2012 Hall of Famer Joe Sakic was up by one as Sundin took his final shot, for a potential goal that the referee cheekily deemed to be worth two points.

But after a miss from the former Leafs captain, the game ended with a 14-13 win for Team Sakic.

Seeing a team lose while wearing Leafs jerseys might have stung for fans, but only barely. The score really didn’t matter, fans said the real magic came from seeing legends back on the ice.

“We get to see Sundin skate,” said Leafs fan Madison Erhardt, who grew up watching the Leafs’ all-time leader in both goals and points. “That’s all that matters.”

“Sundin, Clark, Roberts. I love that era,” said Dave Lamontagne, who came down from Port Perry for the game with his 8-year-old daughter Annie, a self-described Phil Kessel fan.

Before all the spectacle of the game, there was a heartwarming tribute to the legendary Pat Burns, a posthumous 2014 inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Burns, who coached the Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins, passed away in 2010 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Cheers rang out through the ACC as a montage of the NHL’s only three-time coach of the year played on the jumbotron.

During a pre-game ceremony for all six of this year’s inductees — who also included Rob Blake, Peter Forsberg, Dominik Hasek, Mike Modano and Bill McCreary — Burns’ son Jason accepted his father’s Hall of Fame blazer.

“It’s a great honour,” Jason Burns said, amid a standing ovation from the crowd.

A few minutes later, retired NHL referee Ron Hoggarth kicked off the game by razzing the Toronto crowd. “Your worst nightmare — I’m back!” he roared.

Team Sundin wore jerseys modelled after Leafs sweaters from 1949, the year of one of their Stanley Cup wins. Team Sakic, featuring the likes of Rob Blake, Peter Stastny, Nick Kypreos and Paul Coffey, wore striped-sleeve jerseys based on Hall of Fame artifacts from the 1930s and 1940s.

The whole game was heavy on scoring, light on defence and full of surreal plays from rosters filled with legends on the ice. Some players passed on wearing helmets, while others took midgame breaks to toss shirts into the crowd.

There were plenty of magical moments for Leafs fans, including Team Sundin’s third goal courtesy of three former captains — Clark scored it, with assists from Gilmour and Rick Vaive — and a goal from Sittler that was met with big cheers throughout the ACC.

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After the game, Sundin said it was great fun being on the ice with that legendary lineup.

“To join all the legends and Hall of Famers and be part of it yourself, with guys like Darryl Sittler and all of these older players . . . is a great experience,” said the 2012 Hall of Fame inductee.

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