Before Toronto鈥檚 NHL team turned a Leafs Domination into the Collapse on Causeway Street on Monday, the sports world already had its share of .
There was Jean Van de Velde, who took a three-shot lead into the final hole of the Open Championship in 1999 before he hit his ball into the bleachers, the Barry Burn and the bunker en route to squandering the Claret Jug. There was Bill Tilden, who was up 6-2, 6-2, 5-1 in a semifinal match at Wimbledon in 1927 and somehow lost. There were the New York Yankees, beaten four games straight after building a 3-0 lead on the World Series-bound Red Sox.
The list is long and stained in heartbreak, and it also includes the Boston Bruins. Three springs ago the Bruins became just the third NHL team in history to lose a series after leading three games to none 鈥 this after leading 3-0 in the early going of Game 7. And then there were the Don Cherry-coached Bruins of 1979, who took a two-goal lead into the third period of a Game 7 at the Montreal Forum and, thanks to a famed too-many-men penalty and three Montreal power-play goals, lost 5-4 in overtime in the semifinals.
鈥淚 feel like crying,鈥 Cherry said that night.
Leafs coach Randy Carlyle knows the sensation. On Monday the Leafs became the first team in NHL history to lead a Game 7 by three goals in the third period and lose. Carrying a 4-1 lead midway though the final regulation frame and a 4-2 bulge into the final two minutes, the Leafs coughed up the game, 5-4 in OT.
鈥淲e ran out of gas,鈥 Carlyle said on Monday night. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing you can say to explain how and why it happened. It happened.鈥
With respect, here鈥檚 how it happened.
THE PRELUDE: For most of the game鈥檚 first 46 minutes, the Leafs played impressively. Cody Franson was the early star, redeeming a first-period giveaway that led to Boston鈥檚 first goal by scoring a pair of goals of his own to carve out a 2-1 edge. When Phil Kessel made it 3-1 early in the third period, the Bruins, missing key defencemen Dennis Seidenberg and Andrew Ference to injury, looked spent. By the time Nazem Kadri buried his first career playoff goal to make it 4-1 with 14:31 remaining in regulation, Leafs Nation was celebrating. A second-round berth seemed sealed. With the New York Rangers leading their Game 7 over Washington, there was talk of a Rangers-Leafs matchup beginning Thursday at the Air Canada Centre.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e down 4-1, you start thinking about the season being over,鈥 Bruins defenceman Dougie Hamilton would acknowledge later.
THE EARLY DEVOLUTION: As the Leafs sat back and mostly abandoned their forecheck, Boston centreman David Krejci led another in a line of speedy attacks over the 海角社区官网blue line. The energetic rush caught the Leafs defensive pairing of Franson and Jake Gardiner passively backing up. Milan Lucic powered around the net and fed Nathan Horton, who scored on a zinger from the left dot. It was 4-2 with 10:42 to play. From where there was none, hope had sprung.
THE ONSLAUGHT BEGINS: Boston kept attacking, and the Leafs, who would be outshot 16-3 in the third period and overtime combined, kept panicking. It鈥檚 not that they hadn鈥檛 seen this from the Bruins before; Boston outshot the Leafs 19-4 in the third period of Game 5 and scored with 26 seconds left to cut Toronto鈥檚 two-goal lead to one in Game 6. The Leafs had weathered both of those late flurries to escape with 2-1 victories. For most of the night, it was the Bruins who were being accused of an improbable letdown. But in the wake of Horton鈥檚 goal, Toronto鈥檚 clearing attempts began to become soft giveaways. Franson got rid of a puck by shooting it gently to the Bruins blue line, where the home team quickly mounted another rush. Mikhail Grabovski carried it out of his zone and handed it helpfully back to the opposition. Carl Gunnarsson, fed up, iced the puck with 4:58 to go. Carlyle, who would go the duration without using his timeout, should have used it at this moment to deliver this message to his troops: Stop hoping for the end. Start playing until the end.
THE TORONTO DAGGER THAT NEVER WAS: It鈥檚 not that the Leafs didn鈥檛 have their moment. Matt Frattin blocked a Hamilton shot from the point and took off on a breakaway. Boston goalie Tuukka Rask challenged him aggressively. Frattin tried a backhand deke. With the Boston goaltender sliding full splits to the post, Frattin ran out of room and shot wide. There was 3:35 to go and 海角社区官网still led 4-2.
THE ESCAPE THAT ALMOST WAS: With about 2:15 to go, a refreshingly aggressive two-man forecheck by James van Riemsdyk and Grabovski hemmed the Bruins in their own end for a long moment. Van Riemsdyk beat Matt Bartkowski in a 1-on-1 puck battle and slid the puck along the end boards to Grabovski, who controlled it briefly. But Grabovski lost possession when he was hit by Johnny Boychuk. Krejci, stealing away, carried the puck through the neutral zone and deposited it deep into the corner so that Rask could leave the net for an extra attacker with about 1:54 remaining.
THE GOAL THAT MADE IT 4-3: When you remember the improbability of Boston鈥檚 comeback, remember this: The puck was behind the empty Boston net with 1:45 to play and the Bruins down two goals. At that point, the veterans of the 2011 Stanley Cup champions took over. Zdeno Chara fed an outlet pass to Lucic, who was a force to behold. Lucic entered the 海角社区官网zone with authority, ramming Gunnarsson into the end boards with a hit Carlyle will call 鈥渂orderline over-aggressive.鈥 The hit allowed Jaromir Jagr to establish possession. A Chara slapper from the point hit Reimer in the glove and bounced out. Lucic, at the same time, stood unbothered in front of the net, this with 海角社区官网defencemen Dion Phaneuf and Gunnarsson occupying space peacefully on either side of him. With Reimer sprawled on his stomach in a failed attempt to poke the puck forward and not much resistance, Lucic corralled the puck and shot it into the gaping net. Phaneuf, alone at the far post, had the best view. It was 4-3 with 1:22 to play. Boston called a timeout.
THE TYING GOAL: Krejci again flew through the neutral zone at high speed without hindrance from the defence and the Bruins gained the zone, eventually swinging the puck up high toward the blue line. Meanwhile Chara, the lone Boston defenceman on the ice along with five forwards, established menacing position down low, camping his 6-foot-9 frame atop the crease. Phaneuf and Gunnarsson seemed indifferent to his presence, which forced Reimer deep into his net. As Patrice Bergeron launched a wrist shot from the centre point, the Leafs goalie has an up-close view of Chara鈥檚 posterior. The puck sailed over Reimer鈥檚 blocker shoulder and in. It was suddenly 4-4 with 51 seconds to go in regulation.
鈥淚t was coming through traffic and I didn鈥檛 see it,鈥 Reimer would say later.
It was celebration time. The TD Garden crowd, which had booed the home team down 4-1, showered the ice in yellow spirit towels.
鈥淢aybe we should play with our goalie pulled all game,鈥 Hamilton would joke later.
Rask back in, Bruins nearly won it in regulation when Boston forward Rich Peverley was gifted another Reimer rebound in tight. Peverley fanned on the shot with 12 seconds left. The regulation buzzer sounded.
鈥淲e knew we had the momentum,鈥 Bruins forward Brad Marchand said after it was over.
The Leafs tried to regroup, telling themselves they would have been okay with the idea of overtime if they鈥檇 been hypothetically offered the opportunity before the game. Various Leafs would later tell reporters that they didn鈥檛 change their game plan up 4-1. But as overtime loomed, the Leafs were a mess. They鈥檇 stopped playing and started hoping. Even Kessel knew it was the wrong approach.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 do the things we need to do, right?鈥 he would say after the game. 鈥淲e sat back and they came at us. ... We can鈥檛 do that.鈥
Carlyle acknowledged after the game that the strategy had been to 鈥渏ust try to chew the clock, get the game down.鈥 It meant the Leafs stopped skating, negating their speed advantage, reducing time spent in the Boston zone to nearly zilch. And it meant one of their biggest weaknesses was exposed. To that end, let鈥檚 just say acquiring a blueliner skilled in the art of net-front defence will need to be an offseason priority.
OVERTIME: The Leafs produced some decent scoring chances in the opening minutes of the extra frame. Joffrey Lupul swooped in front from behind the net and let fly a solid backhand that Rask handled. But with the Bruins commanding possession in the Leafs zone for their second consecutive shift, the line of Bergeron, Seguin and Marchand applied sustained pressure. The beginning of the end came with Marchand feeding Bergeron for a one-timer from the top of the right circle. Reimer saved it, but the rebound 鈥 like so many Reimer rebounds 鈥 dribbled into the slot. As Seguin and Gardiner jousted for possession, Reimer swam out of position. When Gardiner inadvertently deflected the puck to an on-coming Bergeron, Bergeron pulled the decisive trigger. Reimer, who鈥檇 been kneeling on his pads on the wrong side of the crease, ended up sprawled on his stomach as the puck was lifted over his goal stick and into the net. Boston had won 5-4. While one city heralded one of the greatest moments in its impressive sporting history, the Leafs, their city, their fan base, just felt like crying.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no way to describe it, I don鈥檛 think 鈥 just an empty feeling, really,鈥 Reimer said in the post-game pall of the visitors dressing room. 鈥淚t鈥檚 over and there鈥檚 nothing you can do about it. ... There is no next time. It鈥檚 just next year.鈥
On Tuesday Lupul posted to which Leafs Nation could relate: 鈥淭hat hockey game will haunt me until the day I die...鈥
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