The Toronto Maple Leafs should not be winning this series 3-1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but here we are.
4-1 leads are synonymous with Toronto Maple Leafs history but it’s for a different reason than what we saw on Monday night. On May 13, 2013, almost 10 years to the day, Toronto blew a 4-1 third period lead, ultimately losing Game 7 in overtime against the Boston Bruins.
Fast-forward a decade later and this isn’t the same old Leafs.
For some miracle, Toronto did what they never do. They were the team that came back from a 4-1 deficit and beat the Lightning in overtime to take a demanding 3-1 lead in the series. We’ve been waiting for this moment for all of Auston Matthews’ career and he finally delivered.
When the team needed him to step up, he scored two third-period goals and rallied his team back to victory. Alex Kerfoot was the eventual hero in overtime but Matthews deserves all of the credit in the world for putting the team on his back and finally being the man.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Turning over a New Leaf
Let’s take a second to breathe and look back at where we were on April 18th. With a fresh start to a new playoff series, we were anticipating another long playoff series, but before we knew it, the Leafs lost 7-3 and were embarrassed off the ice.
Their fans booed them after one period of hockey, deservingly so. They looked uninspired and like the same old Leafs. They didn’t fight back when they were down, but instead looked like they didn’t even want to be there anymore.
It’s crazy what a few days can do because Toronto is playing like a team I’m not used to. Maybe it’s the addition of Ryan O’Reilly, or maybe it’s just because it was a matter of time before this team got a few breaks, but this feels different than previous years.
I think Game 1 scared the crap of this team and it was ultimately the best thing that ever happened to them because they haven’t looked scared since.
Instead, they’ve played hard from the opening whistle and although Tampa Bay has arguably outplayed them in three of the first four games, the Leafs are the ones that are winning the battle.
Hockey’s a funny sport.
You don’t necessarily need to be the best team on the ice every night. Instead, you need your goaltender to make timely saves and need a few bounces to go your way and all of a sudden you’re winning a series.
Game 5 is going to be the hardest game of the series and for the second time in three years, the Leafs will have three chances to finally break through. This team is terrible in close-out games, so although they have three chances, they need to finish the job in Game 5.
We can’t go back to Tampa Bay or (I don’t even want to type this) come back home for Game 7 next Monday night.
I don’t want to get ahead of myself but the Toronto Maple Leafs look like a different team and Thursday night could be the end of a long 19-year-old drought.