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As the calendar turns to June and thoughts of the Stanley cup Final are on the minds of eight NHL clubs, the thoughts of the Toronto Maple Leafs turn towards another summer tainted by a season of disappointment and failure.
An in-depth analysis of the Leafs 3-1 loss in Game 7 to the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena is not necessary since it mimicked their slow starts of losses in Game 5 and 6, the difference in the deciding game is that there was no late rally, no comeback and no point where the heavily favored Leafs were better than the more energetic underdog Habs.
The Leafs have perfected the art of multi-system failure. The goaltending in the series cannot be held at fault. Jack Campbell played admirably throughout the series, but his faux pas on Brendan Gallagher’s opening goal deflated Toronto, who appeared to be playing not to win but not to lose.
“I just think of how hard our team battled and for it to end on a goal, worst goal of my career, and for it to happen in Game Seven, it’s just not acceptable.… Campbell said after the game. “He pulled and dragged it and it just kind of fooled me. Just a straight on shot in the NHL, it should be an automatic save.…
Although Travis Dermott’s turnover in overtime of Game 6 and the youthful indiscretions of Rasmus Sandin in Game 5 were reminiscent of errors made by Jake Gardiner, Martin Marincin or Aki Berg in the past, the Leafs defense was not particularly guilty of any major infractions and overall played well.
Toronto did get contributions from secondary sources up front, including Alex Kerfoot’s six points in place of the injured John Tavares, Jason Spezza’s three goals and William Nylander leading the club with eight points (5 goals, 3 assists), but for that to be the difference between victory and defeat, star players like Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner had to rise to the occasion.
That did not happen at all in the series and particularly in Game 7.
“Auston and I for the other guys, especially come playoff time, you want to be the guy they go to and the guy that can lead the team out of the series and we had multiple looks every single game, it just seemed like they weren’t going in so, really no excuse.… Marner said. “You want that puck to go in the net, create chances for it to go in the net and that’s what it comes down to.…
No one is saying that the Leafs dynamic duo were not trying, but through five early playoff exits and numerous failures in elimination games, their efforts and style of hockey have not been conducive to playoff success.
The injuries to John Tavares and Jake Muzzin were factors, but cannot be used as excuses. Even without their team captain and an important leader on the blueline, the Leafs were better and more talented than the Canadiens, but the playoffs are a different kettle of fish and the Leafs two most important players did not rise to the occasion.
Over the past three seasons, GM Kyle Dubas has been quick to accept the blame for the failures of the club, and deflect any calls for changes to the core group. There will be changes that happen naturally, such as Joe Thornton retiring and Nick Foligno likely returning to Columbus, but it has to be time for the Leafs as an organization to recognize that a team devoting nearly 50% of their salary structure to four forwards does not work, especially when the majority of them do not perform well when it matters the most.
This might be a difficult pill to swallow for a Leafs management team devoted to analytics and players with skill, but if they do not find a formula for playoff success soon, the changes in Toronto could include them.
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Lot’s of â¤ï¸ for the 💙ðŸ¤
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) April 26, 2021
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