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Top 5 Most Exciting Toronto Maple Leafs Playoff Matchups

By Stephen Nixon

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - APRIL 01: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates in warm-ups prior to the game against the New York Islanders at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on April 01, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - APRIL 01: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates in warm-ups prior to the game against the New York Islanders at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on April 01, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – APRIL 01: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs  . (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

No. 3: New York Islanders

If you thought it was an ugly scene for John Tavares when he returned to Long Island for a regular season game, just imagine the chaos during a playoff series?

In order for the Islanders to face Toronto, it would have to take place in the Semi-Finals or Stanley Cup Finals. If the Leafs and Islanders somehow face off in the Stanley Cup Finals, New York would explode. Regardless of the pandemic, they would pack that building 20,000 strong, making sure every fan yelled at Tavares for leaving.

The Islanders are a very good team and are hard to play against. Pair that with the Tavares storyline and Toronto could struggle in that series.

Things wouldn’t get as heated as they did in the early 2000s when the Islanders and Leafs faced off against each other in the playoffs, but it would be a very hostile environment in New York.

Even if it’s a struggle and things get heated, the No. 1 reason why I want to see this matchup is for this scenario:

The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup on the road in New York and captain John Tavares is the first person to lift the cup. After fans turned on Tavares like a comic-book super villain and treated him awful for leaving, Tavares gets his revenge by winning the cup in the place he used to call home.

Can you imagine how heart-breaking that would be for Islanders fans?

Give me that drama every day of the week.

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