Their fans might be breathing a sigh of relief, but the Maple Leafs players never really let the angst of outside world leak into their play on the ice.
They took a very workmanlike, businesslike approach in eliminating the Ottawa Senators in six games, on the strength of a 4-2 win Thursday night at a raucous Canadian Tire Centre.
鈥淚’m just proud of this group,鈥 said captain Auston Matthews. 鈥淭hat was a hard-earned series. We get to enjoy that. Take the good, take the bad and move on to the next one.鈥
The next one, of course, is the Florida Panthers. Date and time of Game 1 is still to be determined. The demons of the recent playoff history of this team won’t be exorcised perhaps unless they can find a way to beat the Panthers. The Leafs have gotten this far before, only to fall to Florida in five games in 2023.
The Leafs will argue, correctly, that this is a far different group than the one that was manhandled by the Panthers, who really have taken the 鈥淏ig Bad鈥 mantle away from the Boston Bruins, especially with the addition of Brad Marchand.
For Nylander, on his 29th birthday, the drama before Game 6 in Ottawa was almost as compelling as the action on the ice.
For Nylander, on his 29th birthday, the drama before Game 6 in Ottawa was almost as compelling as the action on the ice.
For the Leafs, it starts at the very top: Coach Craig Berube.
海角社区官网advanced because they played 鈥淏erube-style鈥 hockey. Attack the opposition net. Skilled players going north with the puck, not east or west. They check and check some more.
It was the style of hockey Berube professed in winning the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues. Senators forward David Perron won the Cup on the Blues with Berube back then.
鈥淚 see similarities for sure,鈥 Perron said comparing the Leafs to the Blues. 鈥淎t times they have a shooting lane and they just keep driving the puck a little deeper. They delay. They hang on to it. I do see some stuff that kind of pops in my head and I know where it comes from.鈥
Berube has the respect of the room. He called out his top line after dropping Game 5 at home. Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies were a collective minus-12 after that game, a 4-0 loss that got the Senators back in the series and returned a sense of dread to a fan base used to playoff failure.
Berube said after that game that his top line wasn’t fast enough.
鈥淭hey were a little bit late on things and didn鈥檛 create enough stoppages in the offensive zone,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t was one-and-done too much for me with that line.鈥
There have been times in the past where a Leaf coach would walk back criticism of his top players. Not Berube. He let it sit there.
The result: Matthews opened the scoring, William Nylander had two goals and an assist and though Max Pacioretty would score the winner, Berube praised Matthews as his most important player after the game.
鈥淥ur captain led the way,鈥 Berube said, unprompted. 鈥淗is work ethic and competitiveness the whole game. I don’t know what his face off percentage is right now, but it was high. I didn’t see him lose too many draws. It starts there but he put in heavy physical work. Competing. He touched all areas of the game for us tonight in a good way. The penalty kill. The power play. Obviously he scored a big goal. So like I said he led the way.鈥
Matthews indeed won 72.7 per cent of his draws (16 of 22) to go along with three hits, a blocked shot, a takeaway.
Collectively, the Leafs are second in the post-season in blocked shots (128), tops among teams advancing, and ninth in hits.
These physically-based stats would not likely be reached if not for the new guys like Chris Tanev, who has turned shot blocking into its own art form, copied by the rest of the team.
Mission accomplished. A series win is a series win, just the second of Toronto鈥檚 Shanaplan era. The defending champions await.
Mission accomplished. A series win is a series win, just the second of Toronto鈥檚 Shanaplan era. The defending champions await.
Contributions from down the lineup, especially overtime goals by Simon Benoit and Max Domi, helped propel the team.
The Leafs won a series for just the second time in nine straight playoff appearances. But yes, it’s a different group with a different mindset.
鈥淚t’s five guys on the ice all working together,鈥 said defenceman Brandon Carlo. 鈥淚t’s been so fun to be a part of this group. When we do make mistakes, everybody else is going to pick it up. Everybody’s working together. So the process has been really great. The camaraderie has been awesome. And I think this group is special.鈥
And even as the demons of their playoffs past became the narrative of the series, the team professed they’d keep that 鈥渙utside noise鈥 out of the room and approach whatever was next in a businesslike manner.
鈥淎ll the outside stuff doesn’t really matter,鈥 said Matthews. 鈥淚t’s about the 20 or 25 guys that are in our room and the belief in one another, doing it for one another and just going out there and competing.
“So yeah, this one feels good.鈥
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