Here we go again. In what feels like the biggest game in recent memory for the Toronto Maple Leafs, they are set for yet another Game 7, this time against the defending champion Florida Panthers. There is plenty on the line.
A win would get a massive monkey off of their back in the form of the organization’s first trip to the Eastern Conference Final since 2002, coming after eight consecutive playoff disappointments in the Auston Matthews era. A loss would quite likely spell the end of the ‘Core Four’ era and signal massive changes to come for the Maple Leafs.
The other thing on the line tonight at Scotiabank Arena: the club’s recent Game 7 demons. If they hope to advance past the Panthers, they will have to undo what is an 0-6 record in Game 7’s and an 0-7 record in winner-take-all playoff games, dating back to 2004 (they fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a best-of-five series in the 2020 Qualifying Round).
Look, we’re obviously hopeful that everything goes well tonight and the Maple Leafs move on. But we’d also be remiss if we didn’t take this opportunity to look back on the recent history that the team is looking to undo. Ahead of Game 7, let’s look at Toronto’s recent history of heartbreaks in the ultimate series-deciding game, ranked by the level of gut punch associated with the loss.
6) Boston Bruins, 2018 First Round
Get ready for a name that you will see on here a lot. While this wasn’t the Maple Leafs’ first Game 7 encounter with the Boston Bruins (more on that later), it was the first involving the current core. Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander were still in their early 20s and coming off a surprise playoff appearance the year prior that ended with a six-game loss to the Washington Capitals, which announced their rise. In the 2018 postseason, however, it was time to get familiar with the Bruins.
After a rude introduction that saw Boston outscore the Maple Leafs 12-4 in the opening two games and eventually take a 3-1 series lead, Toronto showed some resilience by rallying back to force a Game 7. A similar comeback looked to be playing out in the deciding game, as the Maple Leafs responded to a 3-2 first-period deficit by scoring two second-period goals to take a 4-3 lead. Unfortunately, they collapsed in what was an all-Bruins third period, getting outscored 4-0 en route to a 7-4 loss.
This marked the end of the road for many long-time Maple Leafs, including Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk and Leo Komarov. However, the club’s new foundation was still in the early stages of its rise to stardom, not to mention still on affordable rookie contracts. Any feelings of disappointment stemming from the loss were quickly offset by optimism for what looked to be a sunny future.
5) Boston Bruins, 2019 First Round
Really, you can point to this season as the one when the Maple Leafs’ fortunes should have changed — and it even included a Bruins rematch. By this point, the young Maple Leafs trio of Matthews, Marner and Nylander had been through two playoff battles and were no longer inexperienced rookies. More significantly, the signing of John Tavares announced that the team was built to win now. First up was an opportunity for revenge against Boston.
Unfortunately, Toronto instead received a healthy dose of deja vu, as they lost in seven games to the Bruins for the second consecutive season. This time around, the Maple Leafs managed to build up a 3-2 series lead, but failed to close out Game 6 at home and had to head back out to Boston. This time around, there was no back-and-forth affair. The Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 first-period advantage before Tavares cut the lead in half. However, that was all the offence they mustered against Tuuka Rask, as Boston scored an insurance goal early in the third and added two late empty-net goals for a commanding 5-1 clincher.
By the third straight first-round exit and second consecutive elimination at the hands of the Bruins, fan frustration was setting in. Suddenly, rookie deals were coming up and there grew more urgency to see signs of growth and development emerge. On top of all that, Brad Marchand and the Bruins were quickly moving up the public enemy rankings among Maple Leafs fans. Sadly, it wouldn’t be the last time that Toronto’s playoff hopes were undone by their Boston rivals in Game 7.
4) Montreal Canadiens, 2021 North Division First Round
On the surface, the Maple Leafs’ loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the 2021 North Division Playoffs looks like rock bottom for the franchise. In what was their first postseason clash with Montreal in over 40 years, Toronto extended their string of first-round futility by blowing a 3-1 series lead to their greatest rivals. Furthermore, they came in as the division champions, having collected 77 points to the Canadiens’ meager 59 in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season.
By the time the Maple Leafs got to Game 7 against Montreal, there wasn’t much fight left. They were unable to solve goaltender Carey Price until a meaningless Nylander goal in the game’s final two minutes. By that time, Brendan Gallagher, Corey Perry and Tyler Toffoli had all scored to ensure a massive upset by the Canadiens en route to the Stanley Cup Final.
This loss should have been more crushing than it was for Maple Leafs fans, but context is key. Fans were still not in attendance as a result of the ongoing pandemic, and the related cross-border travel regulations in place forced a restructuring of the divisions to allow for an all-Canadian North Division. As the Maple Leafs reigned atop the Atlantic Division this season, most hockey media outlets were willing to ignore their North Division triumph and recognize it as their first division crown in 25 years.
The weird circumstances around the 2020-21 campaign don’t entirely erase what was a humbling defeat, but they do serve to make the whole series seem less real and more like some kind of fever dream. Maple Leafs fans are perfectly happy to keep it that way.
3) Boston Bruins, 2024 First Round
The prospect of another playoff battle against the Bruins brought a mixture of trepidation and hope in 2024. For as much as Boston had the Maple Leafs’ number in recent playoff encounters, Toronto had broken through to the second round in the previous season and seemed better equipped to handle the physicality of their rivals with the additions of Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi and Ryan Reaves, plus continued growth and maturation from their core.
Ultimately, all that change and growth amounted to was another opening round defeat at the hands of Boston. The Maple Leafs fell into a 3-1 hole and managed to rally back to tie the series, but Game 7 continued to haunt them. Although Nylander gave Toronto a lead with a third-period marker to break what had been a 0-0 stalemate, Hampus Lindholm and the Bruins made sure that lead was short-lived. From there, David Pastrnak broke the hearts of Leafs Nation by coming through with a Game 7 overtime winner.
The fact that the Maple Leafs couldn’t change the narrative with regards to either their recent Game 7 or Bruins history, particularly considering they were coming off of a 69-goal season from Matthews, underscored the disappointment of the result. The fallout ultimately cost then-head coach Sheldon Keefe his job. With the Bruins now appearing to have committed to a rebuild, it’s unlikely we’ll see another postseason revenge opportunity anytime soon.
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2) Tampa Bay Lightning, 2022 First Round
For all of the times that the Maple Leafs have found themselves on the wrong end of the final score in a Game 7, only once in this recent string has their deciding game defeat come on home ice. The 2021-22 season saw them set a franchise record with 115 regular-season points on the strength of Matthews’ 60-goal season. Coming out of the pandemic and still seeking their first advancement through the opening round within their playoff streak, it certainly seemed like Toronto was positioned for a breakthrough.
That sense only got stronger as the Maple Leafs opened the series with an emphatic 5-0 victory. The two teams exchanged wins the rest of the way, bringing the series back to Scotiabank Arena for Game 7. What had all the makings of a moment of triumph for the club and the city of Toronto over the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions turned out to be anything but, as Nick Paul scored two goals and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 of 31 shots along the way to a 2-1 win for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The parallels here are admittedly hard to ignore, as much as Maple Leafs fans may want to. Just like in 2022, Toronto is staring down a Game 7 at home against a defending Cup champion from the state of Florida. If they can change their fortunes this time around, it will not only mark a new horizon for the franchise but will represent the surest sign of this team being different from its predecessors.
1) Boston Bruins, 2013 First Round
Now that we are 12 years removed, the Maple Leafs’ 2013 Game 7 collapse against Boston feels like an outlier and a product of a bygone era. In many ways, it is. Morgan Rielly, the organization’s longest-tenured player, had yet to make his NHL debut at the time of the 2013 postseason, meaning that no current Toronto roster member played a part in that series. Nevertheless, it didn’t take place that long ago and simply remains too significant a moment in the psyche of fans not to rank first.
For anyone that needs a refresher, Cody Franson (two goals), Phil Kessel and Nazem Kadri combined to give the Maple Leafs a 4-1 stronghold on the Bruins in Game 7 after rallying back from a 3-1 series deficit. But Toronto wasn’t the only team in the series that could deliver a comeback, as Boston scored three times in the final 11 minutes of the third period to send the game to overtime. At that point, the Bruins rode a wave of momentum to an OT winner from Patrice Bergeron (with an assist by Marchand).
It’s doubtful that the 2013 Maple Leafs team bears any connection to the current group, nor are any present Leafs burdened by a playoff collapse that is now a dozen years in the past. There are still, however, many fans that carry the scar tissue from that dramatic, harrowing series.
As we head into yet another Game 7 and carry hope that this one will be different, Maple Leafs fans can be forgiven for not wanting to think about any of these past failures. They do, however, offer some helpful — albeit painful — lessons. No lead is so big that it gives the team the right to get comfortable before the game ends. Don’t let Florida take the crowd out of it early. Do everything possible to get Sergei Bobrovsky off his game (as in Game 6). But most of all, relax. After all, it’s only a game.
