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We’ve seen this happen before: When all of Leafs Nation is partaking in their social-media desecration, the Leafs have historically found a supply of on-ice desperation. When all appears lost, the Leafs have defied expectations and won — never a series, mind you, but at least a game or two.

Nobody is saying that’s acceptable, and nobody’s making a prediction. It’s merely an observation of a recurring peculiarity of a flawed team on its ninth playoff run that looks poised to underachieve in the same way it so often has. It’s only after they’ve been written off that the Leafs decide it’s game on.

A year ago around this time, the Leafs were booed off the ice in Game 4 of their first-round tilt with the Bruins. That’s the loss that put them down 3-1 in a series that more than one observer declared as the death knell of the Core Four, what with the video evidence of on-the-bench bickering between William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews.

But just when the team’s dysfunction was laid bare and its obituary was being prepared, the Leafs went out and won Games 5 and 6. The ultimate letdown didn’t commence until David Pastrnak got loose for an overtime goal in Game 7.

Two years ago against the Panthers, the Leafs came into their second-round series as Stanley Cup favourites before promptly performing the ugliest of faceplants. But after they plummeted into a 3-0 series hole — and after they were rightly ridiculed for a gutless no-show in Game 3 — the Leafs actually played halfway credibly, winning Game 4 before losing in overtime in Game 5 to the eventual Cup finalists.

Back in 2018, too, the Leafs dug themselves out of a 3-1 series hole to the Bruins to force a Game 7. And it probably goes without saying that, in that instance, too, they didn’t win the series.

Still, in all three of those examples they prolonged it, which is Friday night’s only assignment in Game 6 at Amerant Bank Arena. Not that it will be easy, following up what’s probably the worst big-game performance of the Shanaplan era with a victory over one of the best teams in the sport. But with this Maple Leafs squad, a win wouldn’t be a shock.

What may or may not make the assignment more difficult that is that on Thursday Panthers coach Paul Maurice was publicly reminding his team of what happened in 2023.

“We had a 3-0 series lead at home and wanted it so bad that we tried to make it happen every time we touched the puck. We were just throwing hope plays,” Maurice said. “If you learn something, you usually don’t forget it.”

With that said, these same Panthers took a 3-0 lead in last year’s Stanley Cup final and needed Game 7 to close the deal against the Oilers. Either the Panthers are susceptible to taking their collective eye off the ball; heck, as they ran up the score in Wednesday’s blowout, Florida’s players were openly laughing in glee. Or perhaps they have made the mistake enough to be convinced of the dangers of repeating it. Even Maurice acknowledged he can’t be sure which is true.

“We thought we learned (the lesson) two years ago, and then forgot it for three straight games in the final last year,” Maurice said. “It’s nothing you get to keep. It’s something you have to live through and maybe you’ll recall pieces of it.”

As for the Leafs, Berube blamed his team’s penchant for “overthinking things” for Wednesday’s lifelessness.

“You get in your head and you’re worrying too much about the results and you’re not focused on the process,” he said.

If the weight of Toronto’s lack of playoff results is the problem, maybe a blowout loss in Game 5 alleviates the pressure. Now that almost nobody expects anything, history suggests it’s a decent bet the Leafs will show us something. Whether or not it’ll even remotely change how the world sees them will depend on if they can show it twice.