This year was supposed to be different. For the Maple Leafs, there was supposed to be a happier ending.
It was a different group: bigger, stronger, older. Built for the playoffs. There was a new hope.
But it all ended with the same Game 7 disappointment after the Florida Panthers beat the Leafs 6-1 on Sunday night, before a Scotiabank Arena crowd that got more and more restless as the night went on with jerseys tossed on the ice and the team booed and jeered at different points.
鈥淲e’re not happy with that outcome, either,鈥 said Leafs star forward Mitch Marner. 鈥淚’m feeling the same way. It’s heartbreaking. It’s something you don’t enjoy.鈥
The better team in this Atlantic Division second-round septet plays on. I won鈥檛 say it shamed them, but there is so much for the Leafs to regret.
The better team in this Atlantic Division second-round septet plays on. I won鈥檛 say it shamed them, but there is so much for the Leafs to regret.
While the Leafs were left looking for answers to how they lost yet another Game 7, a bigger question emerged: What is Marner’s future? He’s been with the team nine years and is poised for a big payday on or before July 1, with unrestricted free agency looming.
鈥淚 don’t have any thoughts right now,鈥 said Marner. 鈥淚’m pretty devastated with what just happened, devastated. I’ve always enjoyed this team and this city. I haven’t thought about anything. I just thought about coming here every day and trying to put my best foot forward and help this team win hockey games, and help try to win that ultimate goal. We fell short.鈥
They felt short this time in embarrassing fashion. They were up two games to none on the Panthers聽and led in a Game 3 they lost in overtime. And the home-ice advantage they fought for all season turned into a pair of 6-1 losses in Games 5 and 7.
鈥淭hat’s the frustrating part,鈥 said coach Craig Berube. 鈥淲e put ourselves in a good spot in both games coming home and we had disappointing games. We go down there, win a Game 6 playing extremely well. That’s frustrating. I don’t have an answer.鈥
Members of the 海角社区官网F.C., Raptors and Blue Jays were shown at Scotiabank arena on Sunday.聽
The Panthers got second-period goals from Seth Jones, Anton Lundell and Jonah Gadjovich to open up a tight game while the Leafs looked lost, and even turned on each other over a dismal middle frame.
鈥淲e had too many passengers,鈥 said captain Auston Matthews. 鈥淲e just weren’t on the same page. They get a couple goals and momentum like that, and then you’re chasing the game. It’s hard to get it back when you’re down three against a good team that plays sound defensively.鈥
Leaf Max Domi gave the crowd hope with an early third-period goal, but Eetu Luostarinen responded on the very next shift. Sam Reinhart added one halfway through the period, inspiring fans to throw garbage 鈥 and a Leafs jersey 鈥 on to the ice.
鈥淚 feel their disappointment,鈥 said centre John Tavares. 鈥淚t’s tough. You never want to see jerseys on the ice, but you know we just didn’t play well enough.鈥
Brad Marchand, who was used to beating the Leafs in Game 7s as a Bruin, finished the scoring with an empty-netter. It was his 13th Game 7, including five wins over the Leafs. He was asked if he felt like a Leafs assassin.
With Winnipeg’s season on the line, Scheifele played and scored in Dallas just hours after his
鈥淚 don’t look at it that way,鈥 said Marchand. 鈥淚f you look at the past, I didn’t play well in Game 7s against Toronto. Just fortunate to be on good teams.鈥
The Panthers are good at defence, and they came to the defence of the Leafs.
鈥淵ou’re going to kill these guys and they don’t deserve it,鈥 said Panthers coach Paul Maurice. 鈥淧uck went our way tonight.鈥
鈥淭hey’ve been working on building something really big here for a while,鈥 said Marchand. 鈥淎nd they were a different brand of hockey this year and they’re being crucified. And I don’t think it’s justified.鈥
Marchand, by the way, is an unrestricted free agent this summer as well.
Still, a path to greater success had been laid out for them. Had the Leafs beaten Florida, they’d have had home-ice advantage the rest of the way. But like the teams that finished ahead of them in the regular-season standings 鈥 Winnipeg, Washington and Vegas 鈥 the Leafs are done, unable to dethrone the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
The Panthers will head to Carolina to start the Eastern Conference final on Tuesday. And the Leafs will live with the ignominy of another Game 7 loss while dealing with an incredibly vast, deep-pocketed, passionate fan base that is sick and tired of continued playoff underperformance.
The Leafs haven’t won a Game 7 since beating Ottawa in the first round in 2004. That’s seven Game 7 losses in a row, six in the Matthews-Marner era, which may be coming to an end given Marner’s free-agent status. If you want to feel worse, you could throw in a winner-take-all Game 5 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the best-of-five qualifying round in 2020.
Marner, Tavares, Max Pacioretty, Steven Lorentz and Jani Hakanp盲盲 face unrestricted free agency. Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson and Pontus Holmberg will be restricted free agents. How many will be back is anyone’s guess.
鈥淵ou guys (media) will have your opinions,鈥 said Tavares. 鈥淥bviously management will make their decisions. But this is a very good team that’s done a lot of good things that just hasn’t broken through.
Among the knocks as a Leaf was that Andersen couldn鈥檛 stay healthy and shrunk in big playoff
鈥淚’m never going to quit. I’m never going to stop trying. So we’re looking at another opportunity.鈥
Stolarz on the bench
There was a surprise before the game: Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz took the warm-up and backed up Joseph Woll for Game 7. The fans gave him a big cheer.
Stolarz hadn’t even practised with the team or participated in the morning skate since leaving the series opener with an apparent concussion after an elbow to the head from Sam Bennett.
That had the towel-waving, LED-lit fans even more amped up as the game started. But the Panthers were even more amped up, if that was possible.
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