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The Toronto Maple Leafs have shown they are capable of playing winning hockey and defeating the two-time Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning when they put forth a maximum effort, but through four games of their first-round series, the Leafs have only been able to muster that kind of performance in a 5-0 victory in the series opener and 5-2 win in Tampa in Game 3.
The Leafs and Lightning meet in a critical Game 5 at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday, with Toronto possessing home-ice advantage, but their fate rests on whether the dynamic duo of Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews can break through after being shut down the last two games and whether team captain John Tavares or winger William Nylander can be a factor after not being on the radar for most of the first four games.
In spite of a disastrous effort in a 7-3 loss on Sunday, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe has chosen not to make any lineup changes but did shake up his forward lines in hopes of finding a combination that can break out. After drawing attention for a lackadaisical effort in Game 4, Nylander was shifted back down to the third line with Pierre Engvall and David Kampf. Alex Kerfoot moved back to the second line with Ilya Mikheyev and Tavares, Michael Bunting was reunited with Matthews and Marner on the top line, while Ondrej Kase skated with Colin Blackwell and Jason Spezza.
"(We) know what we can play like, so we just have to make sure that we come out and do it (and) get our fans engaged early," Marner said after the club's morning skate. "(Game 4's) start was not the way we wanted, we were down early. We know it's not good enough, so we gotta make sure we change that."
On defense, Keefe kept his same starting six on the blueline including Justin Holl, who was widely chided for a penalty on Brandon Hagel in Game 3 that led to Tampa’s first goal and for his presence on the ice early in Game 4 that led to Steven Stamkos goal sixty seconds into the first period. Each team has been unable to respond after the other scored the opening goal and has trailed by three or more goals in their losses.
A clean sheet at Scotiabank Arena before the #Leafs morning skate. We could see some lineup tweaks for a critical Game 5 with Tampa. pic.twitter.com/ZzzLEp1vek
"The playoffs are up and down." Keefe said "The emotion's all over the place. That's the nature of the game and that's why we love this time of year because you're experiencing so many different things and you're sort of riding that wave as the coach. It's your job to keep things focused and keep things dialed in."
While there are a number of things that will be crucial in this game, the focus of the Toronto fan base will be on whether a club that has made the postseason six years in a row can perform up to expectations when it counts. The great performance of Matthews this season earned him a second straight Rocket Richard and will likely see him nominated for the Hart Trophy. Marner and Nylander both had career years, Tavares averaged nearly a point-per-game and Morgan Rielly set a career-high with 58 assists, but all of that is meaningless if they do not raise their level as the Lightning has done when it counts the last two postseasons.
Whether it be tonight, on Thursday, or on Saturday in a potential Game 7, this incarnation of the Maple Leafs has reached their “show me” moment, where they can prove to the collection of naysayers that they have misjudged this club for the decisions made over the last few years.
But if they don’t…….
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