TAMPA, Fla.鈥擳hey threw their sticks and gloves in the air. They hugged. They screamed. It was mostly joy, but partly relief. They came off the ice to chants of 鈥淕o Leafs Go鈥 from the travelling 鈥 and long suffering 鈥 fan base.
The Maple Leafs indeed won a playoff series, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in overtime.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long time coming,鈥 said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been too long for this group. It鈥檚 an incredible moment and a huge step for our team. But from day one of the season, we haven鈥檛 talked about winning the first round.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to win the Stanley Cup. So today is a significant step. You can鈥檛 get there unless you win the first round. But we鈥檙e not going to celebrate as if we鈥檝e won anything but a first round.鈥
Yes, the Leafs will play hockey in May. They鈥檒l be back to work soon enough, awaiting the winner of the Boston Bruins-Florida Panthers series.
But Saturday night was a moment in the sun for the team鈥檚 top players. They won more than a handshake line. They won a round, knocking off the Lightning 鈥 the best team in the league over the last three or so seasons 鈥 in six games.
And the Leafs won a playoff round for the first time since 2004. That鈥檚 a roster turnover of 268 skaters and 33 goalies, seven coaches and six general managers over 6,948 days.
鈥淛ust to get over that hump is huge mentally for us, to get that monkey off our back,鈥 said Auston Matthews, who scored the game鈥檚 first goal. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to look back now. Just want to keep our foot on the gas.鈥
It was captain John Tavares 鈥 the captain, the local prodigy who chose to join the team five years ago 鈥 who scored the winner.
鈥淚t鈥檚 special being a Maple Leaf,鈥 said Tavares. 鈥淭o get a big one tonight is really nice, especially with the disappointments we鈥檝e had and how much support we鈥檝e had over the years, and the belief in the club from our fan base.
鈥淎 hell of a job by the guys, staying with it and finding a way.鈥
Then the captain echoed the coach.
鈥淲e know it鈥檚 step one and we have a lot more work ahead, and another tough challenge awaiting us.鈥
The goal
Tavares circled the Tampa zone with the puck, switching at one point with Mitch Marner, using a give-and-go with Matthew Knies, seeing Morgan Rielly join a crowd in front of Andrei Vasilevskiy and Marner off to the side as an option.
鈥淚 got the puck up high and interchanged with Marner,鈥 said Tavares. 鈥淚 thought the coverage would go to him, so I held onto it. But they read it well. I kept the puck in and sent it down low. Knies made a good play to make a good touch and create some space for me so I could keep my speed as I went around the net. I saw Mitch in the slot, Rielly to the net.
鈥淚 was going to go to Mitch. Obviously you want the puck in his hands in the middle of the ice but with the space I had and seeing Rielly there I thought let鈥檚 just throw it at the net and see what happens. It hit a skate and went in. Glad I decided to put it there.鈥
New history
A new-look lineup 鈥 an energized Michael Bunting was notably inserted and the team going with seven defencemen 鈥 led to the team鈥檚 strongest performance since Game 2.
It showed that history doesn鈥檛 always repeat itself. The Leafs lost consecutive Game 6s to Montreal and Tampa over the last two years and finally reversed that trend.
Bigger picture, Leafs playoff history 鈥 and the bar is pretty low in these parts the past few decades 鈥 was made. The Leafs won a playoff series for the first time since 2004. They put away an opponent for the first time in 12 attempts dating back to 2013.
And more importantly, they may have discovered the best way not to lose in seven games, is to win in six.
For Tampa, it marks their earliest exit since an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round in 2019. That of course motivated them to go on to win the Stanley Cup two years in a row and make the final last year.
鈥淗ats off to Tampa Bay, a hell of a team and what they鈥檝e been able to accomplish the last number of years,鈥 said Tavares. 鈥淓xtremely tough challenge. But we stayed with it and found ways to win three overtime games. Says a lot about our group.鈥
How long?
And 2004 was so long ago, Paul Martin was Prime Minister, Netflix was still mailing videos to consumer with its streaming service still three years away, and it seemed like everyone wanted a BlackBerry. Oh, and there was no salary cap. The NHL season-long lockout was a few months after the Leafs made it to that second round.
The Leafs won their first three playoff road games for the fifth time in franchise history, all of them in overtime. They won the first five on the road in 1949, the first four in 1977 and the first three in 2001.
The Leafs had lost eight series in a row dating back to the second round 2004. The last team to lose eight in a row were the New York Islanders, a streak that ended in 2016 with an overtime goal by Tavares to beat the Florida Panthers.
Correction 鈥 May 1, 2023: This story has been updated. A previous version erroneously stated that Tampa lost in the first round in 2020. It was 2019.
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