Their fans might be breathing a sigh of relief, but the Maple Leafs players never really let the angst of the outside world leak into their play on the ice.
They took a very workmanlike approach in eliminating the Ottawa Senators in six games, on the strength of a 4-2 win Thursday night at a raucous Canadian Tire Centre.
“I’m just proud of this group,” said captain Auston Matthews. “That was a hard-earned series. We get to enjoy that. Take the good, take the bad and move on to the next one.”
The next one, of course, will be against the Florida Panthers. The date and time of Game 1 is still to be determined.
The demons of the recent playoff history of the Leafs perhaps won’t be exorcised unless they can find a way to beat the Panthers. The Leafs have gotten this far before, only to fall to Florida in five games in 2023.
The Leafs will argue, correctly, that this is a far different group than the one that was manhandled by the Panthers, who really have taken the Big Bad mantle away from the Boston Bruins, especially with the addition of Brad Marchand.
For Nylander, on his 29th birthday, the drama before Game 6 in Ottawa was almost as compelling as the action on the ice.
For Nylander, on his 29th birthday, the drama before Game 6 in Ottawa was almost as compelling as the action on the ice.
For the Leafs, it starts at the very top: coach Craig Berube.
pc28advanced by playing Berube-style hockey: attacking the opposition net, with skilled players going north with the puck, not east or west. They check and check some more.
It was the same style Berube professed while winning the 2019 Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues. Senators forward David Perron won with Berube back then.
“I see similarities, for sure,” Perron said in comparing the Leafs and Blues. “At times they have a shooting lane and they just keep driving the puck a little deeper. They delay, they hang on to it. I do see some stuff that kind of pops in my head and I know where it comes from.”
Berube has the respect of the room. He called out his top line after dropping Game 5 at home. Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies were a collective minus-12 after that game, a 4-0 loss that got the Senators back in the series and returned a sense of dread to a fan base used to playoff failure.
The coach said the top line wasn’t fast enough.
“They were a little bit late on things and didn’t create enough stoppages in the offensive zone,” he said. “It was one-and-done too much for me with that line.”
There have been times in the past where a Leafs coach would walk back criticism of top players. Not Berube. He let it sit there.
The result: Matthews opened the scoring, William Nylander had two goals and an assist, and while Max Pacioretty would score the winner, Berube praised Matthews as the most important player.
“Our captain led the way,” Berube said, unprompted. “His work ethic and competitiveness the whole game. I don’t know what his faceoff percentage is right now, but it was high. I didn’t see him lose too many draws. It starts there, but he put in heavy physical work, competing. He touched all areas of the game for us tonight, in a good way: the penalty kill, the power play. Obviously he scored a big goal ... he led the way.”
Matthews indeed won 72.7 per cent of his draws (16 of 22) to go along with three hits, a blocked shot and a takeaway.
Collectively, the Leafs are second in the post-season in blocked shots (128, tops among teams advancing) and ninth in hits.
These stats would not likely have been reached if not for the new guys such as Chris Tanev, who has turned shot blocking into an art form, copied by the rest of the team.
Mission accomplished. A series win is a series win, just the second of Toronto’s Shanaplan era. The defending champions await.
Mission accomplished. A series win is a series win, just the second of Toronto’s Shanaplan era. The defending champions await.
Contributions from down the lineup also helped, especially overtime goals by Simon Benoit and Max Domi.
The Leafs won a series for just the second time in nine straight playoff appearances. But yes, it’s a different group with a different mindset.
“It’s five guys on the ice all working together,” said defenceman Brandon Carlo. “It’s been so fun to be a part of this group. When we do make mistakes, everybody else is going to pick it up. Everybody’s working together. So the process has been really great. The camaraderie has been awesome, and I think this group is special.”
And even as the demons of playoffs past became the narrative of the series, the team professed they’d keep that “outside noise” out of the room and approach whatever was next in a businesslike manner.
“All the outside stuff doesn’t really matter,” said Matthews. “It’s about the 20 or 25 guys that are in our room and the belief in one another, doing it for one another and just going out there and competing.
“So yeah, this one feels good.”
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