Toronto Maple Leafs Can't Handle the Pressure of the Playoffs
In the biggest game of the season, and in what was a must-win game for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the entire team had a complete no-show, including the Core Four, as they lost 6-1 and trail the Florida Panthers 3-2 in their Round 2 series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
This legacy game was for Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Morgan Reilly. With the series tied at 2-2, this was the game in which this group was going to show that they were a different group—that they were a different Maple Leafs team.
These players were going to step up in a significant moment in a big game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and deliver one of their best performances ever. But instead, we got the same old Toronto Maple Leafs we come to expect in the playoffs.
In the biggest games, the players curl and hide when the lights are bright. It was the Maple Leafs' worst game of the season. Under new head coach Craig Berube, they were a hard team to play against.
That was the point of changing coaches: to bring in someone who has won a Stanley Cup as a coach and who understands what it takes to win in the playoffs. Berube brought the team that calming demeanour you need in the playoffs.
Just look at the last series against the Ottawa Senators, after going up 3-0, the Maple Leafs lost Game 4 in overtime and then laid an egg in Game 5. But the message from the coach and players was the same: we are still ahead in the series, and there is no need to panic.
In Game 6 of Round 1 against Ottawa, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander had their best game of the playoffs. Everyone was chipping in, and the Maple Leafs took control and delivered the knockout blow.
Once again, this group showed they were different because they could respond after taking a couple of shots. The Maple Leafs would have folded in previous years, and maybe the Senators would have returned from a 3-0 deficit.
In the first two games, you thought this was a different team. The way the Maple Leafs were able to take Florida’s best shots and respond. You thought, “ok, this might be different.” Toronto went up 2-0 in the series.
Nylander, Marner, Knies, and Tavares were delivering. The Maple Leafs depth scoring was contributing as well. Toronto was playing the team game you need to win in the playoffs.
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While Game 1's ending was not ideal, the Maple Leafs found a way to hang on after Anthony Stolarz was knocked out and replaced by Joseph Woll. Every time the Panthers scored a goal, the Maple Leafs responded with one of their own.
However, that all changed in Game 3 of this series. With Toronto up 2-0 in the series and 3-1 in the game after racing out to a 2-0 lead in Game 3, the Maple Leafs squandered the lead as the Panthers tied the game at 3-3.
Now Toronto had a chance to retake the lead after the game 4-4. The Maple Leafs even fought back down 4-3 to tie the game at 4-4. Then Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky got in the zone.
He stopped Matthew Knies, William Nylander, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares on point-blank shots to end Period 3 of Game 3 and in the overtime session. However, in the end, the Panthers got the overtime goal from Brad Marchand to get Florida back in the series.
From there, it was the same old Panthers in Game 4, and Bobrovsky once again got in the Maple Leafs head, shutting them out. Bobrovsky was stopping the goals that were going in at the start of the series. He got the confidence at the end of Game 3 and carried it over into Game 4.
This brought the Panthers back to Toronto for Game 5, which was tied at 2-2. Once again, Bobrovsky stoned the Maple Leafs top players early. Nylander was stoned on a breakaway before the Panthers made it 1-0. Even Knies was robbed at the end of the first period.
Bobrovsky was in their heads. The Maple Leafs did not score a goal for a stretch from the 10:56-minute mark of the third period in Game 3 until the 18:54-minute mark of the third period of Game 5. Again, the offence always there in the regular season went cold.
However, the Maple Leafs turnovers did not show earlier in the playoffs reared their ugly heads. Despite playing well defensively and winning faceoffs, Auston Matthews isn’t scoring. He is also playing injured because his shot is not the same.
Matthews coughed up the puck in his zone on the first goal. So did Morgan Rielly. Then Mitch Marner decided to do a no-look behind-the-back pass in the neutral zone, which led to the Jesper Boqvist 3-0 goal.
Things you did not see from Toronto all year were showing up in the biggest game of the year. The Maple Leafs were losing puck and board battles. Their compete and effort levels were just not there. They were playing, afraid to lose, instead of playing to win.
This was the stuff that cost the Maple Leafs a chance at winning in years past. But instead of sticking to Craig Berube’s plan, they returned to their old habits, which got the players in trouble.
It will be interesting to see how this Toronto Maple Leafs team responds with their season on the line. If they lose in game 6, this finally might be the year things change.
They were already changing with Mitch Marner and John Tavares free agents. But if they got out like this without a fight, General Manager Brad Treliving could make significant roster moves. And there could even be a move about him with Brendan Shanahan.
But once the Toronto Maple Leafs core group showed who they are. Until they step up in the big moments, everyone’s perception of them will be the same. This group just can’t get it done in the playoffs.
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