James Reimer entered Thursday’s game in relief of the injured Jonathan Bernier to something he hoped to hear, but may not have been expecting.

Fans at the Air Canada Centre, sensing a massive hole opening up in the Maple Leafs’ defence with Bernier gone and Reimer stone cold off the bench, began chanting Reimer’s name.

The “Let’s Go Reimer” chorus boomed across the rink. With it came vindication for Reimer after an emotional and controversial time for him in Toronto the past two weeks.

“Just battle, battle everything . . . it’s been tough with everything going on, but keep the faith, keep positive,” Reimer said after bailing out the Leafs in their dramatic 4-3 win in overtime.

Reimer was referring to his own roller-coaster ride ever since he and the Leafs blew that lead in Game 7 in Boston last spring.

Reimer has had to rebound all season long, but it’s never been more emotional than during five consecutive losses he suffered while filling in for Bernier, who suffered a groin strain against Los Angeles in early March.

Talk around the team grew more intense with each loss, and Reimer was coloured “gone” at the end of the season, supposedly needing a change of scenery to resurrect a career that had fallen off the rails in Toronto.

Fans were booing him in Toronto during that stretch, and while that was difficult, reaction on Twitter after a loss to Montreal two weeks ago was worse. Reimer was forced to endure attacks on his wife as fallout from the Leafs’ slide grew uglier.

Bernier reclaimed his starting spot after the five-game injury absence. Reimer took up his backup role and it seemed — until Thursday night — that he was marooned there.

“I told my wife before I left (for Thursday’s game) I was going to get in, I just had a feeling,” Reimer said.

“You don’t know why, you just have a feeling, and I tried my best to prepare and be ready.”

Reimer faced 12 shots after Bernier exited the game at the 12-minute mark of the third.

“I could tell by the way he (Bernier) was moving (that he was injured), so I hopped over the boards right away and tried to warm up,” Reimer said.

“I heard the cheer, the fans have been great to me. Sure, there’s been some negativity, but the support has been tenfold greater. It was unbelievable, especially tonight.

“You don’t think about that other stuff,” Reimer added.

“My focus was to play as best I can. And for sure, those things go through your mind, but you don’t have time to think of them, especially with (Zdeno) Chara standing in front of you on the power play.”

Reimer was asked about the possibility — given Bernier’s hold on the starting job — that he might have played his last game of the season in his previous start, and possibly his last game as a Leaf.

“Lots of things go through your mind, that’s a plausible form of thought (by media),” Reimer said.

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“Most of the things people say aren’t nearly as bad (as the attacks on his wife). Fans are supportive, for every negative, there’s 20, 30, 100 people who are supportive. Does the other stuff bother you? No, because you build on fans who support you.”

That was a sentiment echoed by Reimer’s teammates.

“When the team doesn’t do so well, he’s the first guy everybody hops on,” said Nazem Kadri, who scored the overtime winner against Boston.

“We were losing in front of him, we couldn’t figure it out, and we as players felt bad, so now it’s time we had his back and step up to the plate.”

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