Leafs forward William Nylander, left, shakes hands with Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark while captains Auston Matthews and Brady Tkachuk speak after Game 6.
Auston Matthews talking about the noise on the outside in his post-game Sportsnet interview was notable. They know the market they play in. They know their history. They know what it would have been like had they been pulled to a Game 7. But Berube was cool, and the team was fine.
Leafs forward William Nylander, left, shakes hands with Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark while captains Auston Matthews and Brady Tkachuk speak after Game 6.
Auston Matthews talking about the noise on the outside in his post-game Sportsnet interview was notable. They know the market they play in. They know their history. They know what it would have been like had they been pulled to a Game 7. But Berube was cool, and the team was fine.
It might change against a tougher opponent, of course. In 2022 the Leafs lost the first two games at home, and then bafflingly, infuriatingly, delivered something close to a no-show in Game 3 in Florida, and the season was effectively over. That was the moment that then-GM Kyle Dubas decided he was going to explore changing the core, before his implosion with president Brendan Shanahan, and the window to change the core of this team passed.
So, here they are, with Florida on the docket again, and another chance. They beat one Tkachuk, and now get to try to beat another one.
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Bruce Arthur is a columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:
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