I can’t believe I’m actually writing this article. After 19 years and 7 straight First Round exits, the Toronto Maple Leafs have finally expelled their playoff demons as they WON GM. 6 2-1 over the Lightning, clinching their first series win since 2004.
There must have been an earthquake in Toronto from all those celebrations.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have finally won a playoff series as they knocked off the reigning Eastern Conference champions Tampa Bay Lightning in six games, winning Game 6 from a resilient, determined John Tavares overtime winner. And, let me be the first person to say sorry to this Maple Leafs team as I misjudged them badly.
After getting utterly humiliated 7-2 in Game 1 at home by this Lightning roster, I thought we were going to see the Maple Leafs fold over and choke for an 8th straight playoff run and the 7th straight run for this collective core of superstars. Obviously, I was overreacting given the result of last night and the fight the Maple Leafs showed over the entire series, but their performance in Game 1 was in line with how they have played in every meaningful playoff series since 2004.
The Leafs superstars didn’t show up when the game was in the balance, the defense wilted under the offensive pressure, and the goaltending completely collapsed as Tampa Bay was able to score four unanswered goals across the final two periods to rack up what I thought was a commanding, defining 7-3 Game 1 win. Yet, unlike in the years past, something changed.
The Maple Leafs…didn’t give up.
Following a dominate 7-2 victory in Game 2 where Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly all stepped up, the Maple Leafs went into Tampa Bay for Games 3 and 4 and won. Still, they didn’t just win 7-2 or by some blowout scoreline the opening two games of the series followed, but rather they actually grinded out two overtime victories (Game 3: 4-3 OT win; Game 4: 5-4 OT win).
And these games were where Kyle Dubas’ mid-season acquisitions really shinned as Ryan O’Rielly scored 1 G, 4 A, for 5 PTS, Noel Acciari scored twice (2 G, 2 PTS), Calle Järnkrok had an assist (1 A), and Matthew Knies had an assist in his first ever NHL game in Game 3 (1 A) as the Leafs fought back from two late deficits (trailing 3-2 in Game 3 with a minute left, came back to win 4-3 in OT; trailing 4-1 with 10 minutes left in Game 4, came back to win 5-4 in OT).
Now, I can’t say that I fully take back everything I’ve said about Dubas’ mid-season acquisitions, such as the defensive ones as the Maple Leafs gave up 21 goals in 6 games (3.5 GAA), but bringing in a Stanley Cup winner and Conn Smyth winner in Ryan O’Rielly, two Stanley Cup Finalists Noel Acciari (2019 Boston Bruins) and Calle Järnkrok (2017 Nashville Predators), and 2023 Frozen Four Finalist and one of the best college hockey prospects in Matthew Knies was crucial to this series victory.
And Dubas deserves all the praise in the world for recognizing the leadership (O’Rielly), experience (Acciari, Järnkrok), and confidence (Knies) issues this team possessed and correcting them.
Nevertheless, with the Lightning grinding out a 4-2 Game 5 victory over the Leafs in Toronto to force a Game 6, all the Maple Leafs’ growth, determination, and resiliency would be tested in essentially a must win Game 6. Sure, the Leafs could have lost last night and had the series go back to Toronto for a Game 7, but we have seen how that story has played out before.
No, the Leafs had to grind out a difficult win in Tampa Bay if they were finally going to break their curse….and that’s what they did.
Despite being outplayed for 95% of the game, the Leafs let Illya Samsonov bail them out time and again as he saved 31/32 shots for a .969 SV%, while the superstars at long last came up clutch when it really mattered.
Auston Matthews, who got a lot better as the series went along, gave the Maple Leafs the lead with a seeing-eye, one-time from the top of the faceoff circle late in the 2nd period, and captain John Tavares officially broke the playoff curse with what has to be one of the most important goals in the Leafs’ 106-year history.
After Steven Stamkos tied the game early on in the 3rd period for the Bolts, Tampa Bay carried all of that momentum over into the overtime period and was really hammering the Leafs. Truthfully, the Lightning should have won the game in overtime as they more offensive zone T.O.P., the better looks on goal, and all the momentum behind them, but that’s not how the Hockey Gods pick their winners.
So, with an innocuous shot from the left faceoff circle, the puck deflected off Taylor Raddysh’s skate and behind Vasilevskiy, who looked like himself again in the last two games, to win the game 2-1 for Toronto and end the longest active playoff series win drought for any North American sports team.
We’ll have to see if the Maple Leafs can carry this momentum into the next round against either the Boston Bruins or the Florida Panthers, but I’ll be man enough as a Bruins fan to admit that watching the Maple Leafs coaching staff, GM staff, and the players celebrate was a nice moment.
There’s been teams who’ve won the Stanley Cup that didn’t show as much emotion and relief as those Toronto players, coaches, and executives, so I’m glad they were finally able to celebrate a playoff series win for once. Now, the next target is to break their 55-year Stanley Cup drought…which is the longest in the NHL.
As for the Lightning, this was the end of their mini dynasty.
Making 9 playoff appearances in the last 10 seasons, reaching 6 Eastern Conference Finals, winning 2 Atlantic division titles, winning the 2018/19 President’s Trophy, tying NHL history with a then-record 62 regular season wins in 2018/19, reaching 4 Stanley Cup Finals (2015, 2020, 2021, 2022), reaching 3 straight Stanley Cup Finals (2020-2022), and winning the Stanley Cup twice (2020/21, 2021/22) is a tremendous achievement for a franchise that only entered the NHL in the 1992/93 season.
There’s at least six Hall of Famers in this core group of players, coaches, and GMs (Victor Headman, Steven Stamkos, Nikitia Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, HC Jon Cooper, GM Julien BriseBois), and it could be seven if Bradyen Point continues his current points trajectory.
This team may not have officially cemented itself as a dynasty with only 2 Stanley Cup wins in 10 years and/or with this core group of players, but they have done great service to the NHL and all the fans around the world. And that’s something to be extremely proud of.
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