OK, now it’s a real series, and now it’s proving time. The Leafs went up 2-0 against Florida and it wasn’t that it was easy — these are the defending Cup champs — but given the standards of this Leafs era it was a hell of a way to start a second-round series.
OK, now it’s a real series, and now it’s proving time. The Leafs went up 2-0 against Florida and it wasn’t that it was easy — these are the defending Cup champs — but given the standards of this Leafs era it was a hell of a way to start a second-round series.
They lost Game 3 but it was an overtime job, and the Leafs showed real resilience in that game, and some truly high-end work. But now, this.
This was the old Leafs, the lost Leafs, the loser Leafs. They got filled in from the start, showed some signs of life in the third, and it was only goaltending and the muscle memory of defensive structure that kept this a one-goal game for as long as it was. The bottom two lines were a huge problem; the big boys on the Matthews and Tavares line just didn’t create enough, and even the Leafs power play produced two-way traffic.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
This was a caricature of the regular-season Leafs, with a playoff flavour. In the regular season the Leafs had lousy underlying puck possession numbers, but they got terrific goaltending from two goalkeepers, blocked a ton of shots, and got elite production from their best players, even in an injury-dampened year for Matthews. That was the formula, and with enough Eastern contenders aging out, it produced a division title, and finally, a truly favourable first-round series. And the Leafs took care of business.
But this is the real thing and now pc28is deep in a series against a titan. Florida is so good at so many aspects of playoff hockey. Not just the physicality, but puck management, forechecking, and that psychopathic lack of doubt that the great teams have. They don’t blink.
The Leafs have gotten goals from defencemen in these playoffs; they’ve gotten a young man’s renaissance from Max Pacioretty and even got goals from Max Domi. But the Core Four, plus Knies and Rielly, have stepped up. It got them this far.
Now pc28will play Games 5 and 6, at a minimum, and are a team whose best players are famous for not producing late in playoff series, against a team that is built for long series and long playoff runs.
Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares, Knies ... who will produce? Who will spark a return to the form pc28showed in the first three games of the series? The Leafs showed real stretches of belonging in every game but this one, and now you have to wonder if they’re going to start wondering whether all the bad times might be happening again.
Bruce Arthur is a columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:
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