Are the 海角社区官网Maple Leafs really doing this again?
It was 2021 when former Leafs assistant coach Paul MacLean’s haunting words were uttered between Games 6 and 7 against the Montreal Canadiens. The Leafs, heavy favourites in that first-round playoff series, were comfortably up three games to one before losing the next two in overtime.
Amazon’s “All of Nothing” documentary captured a coaches meeting where MacLean spoke about what was at stake for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
鈥淵ou can exorcise so many f—-ing demons. And they’ve got demons in their heads, they’ve got ‘em in their car, they’ve got ‘em under their f—-ing beds,” MacLean said to former head coach Sheldon Keefe. “Everywhere they turn there’s a f—-ing demon with a loss on it. The biggest obstacle this team has right now is themselves.”
Four years have passed, but the demons haven’t left.
Just one week ago, no one would have dared to compare this year鈥檚 team that won the Atlantic Division to the ones that failed in the playoffs the last eight years聽鈥 and with good reason. Those teams were small, soft, inexperienced and had bad goaltending. They had horrific power plays that sapped momentum and, above all, they grossly lacked any killer instinct.
This season had a much different vibe. The Leafs brought in a new coach, they got bigger, grittier and had a stingier defence. Combine that with Vezina-calibre goaltending and it finally looked like they were ready to leave the past behind. They went the entire regular season without a losing streak longer than three games. It felt like everything was different. And it was different, until Game 5 came along.
It鈥檚 not a whodunnit. It鈥檚 a who didn鈥檛.
It鈥檚 not a whodunnit. It鈥檚 a who didn鈥檛.
After two consecutive losses in series-clinching games this week, which lowers the unfathomable record in those contests to 1-13 since 2018, all bets are off.
And if winning 7.14 per cent of the most important games of the past eight seasons isn鈥檛 depressing enough, let鈥檚 remember that Matthews and Marner have combined for just four goals and 10 assists in those 14 games.
That鈥檚 exactly why, despite being up in the series, the situation feels dire in Toronto.
It鈥檚 hard to find answers for how a team that recently won a tough division and was playing great hockey can have squandered two golden opportunities to close out the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference.
The two biggest Leafs stars tried their best anyway.
“Fine,” was how Marner described the team’s mindset after the 4-0 Game 5 loss. “It鈥檚 not supposed to be easy 鈥 We have confidence in this group.”
“I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 any panic in this room,” Matthews told reporters.
We’ve heard it all before.
So that brings us to Thursday. The Leafs technically have two tries to win one game, but they really don’t. 海角社区官网has to treat Game 6 as their Game 7 because in so many ways it is.
It’s really quite simple: If the Leafs lose Game 6 in Ottawa, no one will believe they have a chance to win Game 7. It would be the sixth time they’ve gone the distance in the first round in eight seasons, and that’s probably too much for Leafs Nation to take.
The Leafs were booed sporadically by the home fans in the final five minutes Tuesday. What might happen if they do the unthinkable and find themselves in an all-too-familiar situation, down in the third period in Game 7 at home?
And even if they did find a way to win a Game 7 on Saturday night, the damage will have already been done. Blowing a three-game lead to the Senators, who finished 11 points behind 海角社区官网in the standings and are in their first post-season since 2017, would not set them up well in a much more challenging second round. It would take a toll mentally, physically and emotionally, which would make a deep playoff run even more difficult than it already is.
It’s not over for the Leafs by any stretch, but it is time for a gut-check. A big win on the road in Game 6 can go a long way in dampening the narrative that the Leafs choke in the playoffs and leave many with an open mind heading into the second round. A Game 7 would do the opposite.
It was just two seasons ago when many of these same Leafs found themselves in a similar situation, up three games to two against the Tampa Bay Lightning. They found a way to knock out future Hall of Famers Andrei Vasilevskiy, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point on the road.
With the Senators right back in the series, the ghosts and goblins of playoffs past are creeping from the shadows to begin to haunt the Maple Leafs.
With the Senators right back in the series, the ghosts and goblins of playoffs past are creeping from the shadows to begin to haunt the Maple Leafs.
Don鈥檛 tell me this version of the Leafs, which was built for playoff hockey, can鈥檛 end the seasons of Tim St眉tzle, Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson and Linus Ullmark.
MacLean did add one important point about Matthews and Marner in that same meeting in 鈥淎ll or Nothing.鈥
“They’re good players,” he said. “We’ve gotta get through this.”
They have to. It really is that simple.
Kyper’s Korner
鈥hile the perception is Rick Tocchet鈥檚 decision to leave the Vancouver Canucks wasn鈥檛 just about money, many believe it was exactly that. The Canucks didn’t reach a number that the Tocchet camp couldn鈥檛 refuse. End of story.
鈥ne question starting to circulate out of Vancouver is whether or not the Aquilini family is contemplating selling part or the majority of the Canucks. There’s speculation that Luigi聽Aquilini, the founder of聽Aquilini聽Investment Group,聽and his two sons Paolo and Roberto, who have no active roles in the hockey club, may have grown a tad tired of the constant drama surrounding the team. The Canucks are run by Luigi鈥檚 eldest son Francesco, who’s the chairman and governor. Market value for the hockey club and Rogers Arena is speculated to be between $2-3 billion.
鈥here’s been lots of recent talk about how free agent coach Mike Sullivan is all-in on re-setting the coaching market with a value that could start at $7 million (U.S.) per year. If that鈥檚 the case, expect the New York Rangers to win the bidding war over the Boston Bruins.
Changed my mind
On former NHL executive Ken Holland fading into the sunset: He has apparently been interviewed by the New York Islanders.
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