Their fans might have given up on them. Their critics are ready to say, “I told you so.” And some of the Maple Leafs might be secretly thinking, “Not again.”
But Toronto’s hockey heroes, who have seen a 2-0 series advantage turn into a 3-2 deficit, are saying the right things, at least outwardly.
鈥淲hether we lost the way we lost (by five goals) or we lost in overtime, whatever it is, we’re still in a position where we’re right in the fight,鈥 defenceman Morgan Rielly said as the team gathered at the Ford Performance Centre before jetting to Florida for Friday’s Game 6. 鈥淲e’ve got to go down there, we’ve got to play our best game.
鈥淭hat’s what we’re focused on. We can dwell on all kinds of things, be upset about effort or whatever. But I believe that this team cares. We’re in a position now to go down there and win a very important game for our team.鈥
Rielly is the longest-serving player on the Leafs roster, 13 years in the organization since being taken in the 2012 draft. His playing partner, Brandon Carlo, only joined the team a couple of months ago, a trade deadline pickup in March from the Boston Bruins.
鈥淭his group as a collective whole is a very tight-knit group,鈥 Carlo said. 鈥淭his is a special group. I have the utmost faith that these guys are ready to take the next step.鈥
What are the Leafs made of? What can they salvage? What can they prove in Game 6? Their season
To put it bluntly, it’s win or go home time when the Leafs and Florida Panthers meet at Amerant Arena.
These Leafs, to be fair, have gone a bit further than the eight previous versions featuring Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews. But one more second-round win than in 2023 is hardly anything to celebrate.
A series that once seemed well in hand for the Leafs is now seriously in doubt after the
Maybe that’s why coach Craig Berube was a little more blunt, even acknowledging the team’s top stars were perhaps overwhelmed by the moment in Game 5 when asked if he thought the pressure was getting to them.
鈥淧robably,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淵ou get in your (own) head. You’re worrying too much about the results and not focused on the process. That’s where that comes from for me. I’ve seen it before in playoffs and I’ve coached it before in playoffs. I know what they’re going through.鈥
So Berube’s message to the team: Stop thinking.
鈥淭hey want to do well, they want to do the right thing, but sometimes when you go into a game and it’s a big game, we just overthink things,鈥 he said. 鈥淵ou’ve got to trust your structure and your system 鈥 that takes care of the thinking. Then it’s just about playing.鈥
The Leafs were barely mentioned in coach Paul Maurice’s briefing, though he brought up the lessons learned in Florida’s disposal of 海角社区官网in five games in 2023.
鈥淚f you learn something, you usually don’t forget it,鈥 Maurice said. 鈥淟ike if you learn how to tie your shoe, two years later, you don’t forget. So we thought we learned it two years ago, and then forgot it for three straight games in the final last year. So it’s nothing you get to keep. It’s something that you have to live.鈥
The Leafs talked about winning puck battles, competing harder, getting in Sergei Bobrovsky’s grill, doing the things that earned them two wins in the first two games.
鈥淲e’ll be a lot better in Game 6,鈥 Berube said.
In truth, The Leafs have been absurdly good in getting series to the maximum seven games. It’s hard to believe they have it in them again, though, after a moribund, embarrassing slaughter at the hands of the Panthers on Wednesday night, a game that saw fans boo the team and leave early. One even threw a Matthews jersey on the ice in disgust.
鈥淚 get it,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淭hey’re fans. They paid good money to come see the game. They want to see results. I’ve been around Philly for a long time too. It’s similar stuff. It’s just part of the game. I’m not focused on the fans. I’m focused on our team.
鈥淎 loss is a loss. If we would have lost 2-1 and it was a close game, would it really matter today? We got beat. I’ve been in this situation before. You know a loss is a loss. We’re going to be down and dejected. But we can’t be. We’ve got to regroup. We’ve got to get a different mindset going here going into tomorrow’s game and be excited to go and win a game. That’s what we’ve got to do.
鈥淲e’ve got to change the whole mindset here.鈥
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