Why the Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Win Game 5

On Monday, the Toronto Maple Leafs took down the Tampa Bay Lightning to take a 3-1 series lead.

The Toronto Maple Leafs came back from a 4-1 deficit to win 5-4 in OT.

Alex Kerfoot scored the game-winner, capping off one of the greatest Leaf games of all time.

The Leafs have a chance this Thursday to close out the series and win their first playoff round since 2004.

Why the Toronto Maple Leafs Need To Win Game 5

Winning the series is easier said than done, however. The Toronto Maple Leafs have been in this situation before, and it has not gone well for them.

In 2019, 2021, and 2022, the Leafs held leads in every one of those series and failed to win. Infamously, in 2021, the Leafs held the same 3-1 series they have this year before blowing it to their archrivals, the Montreal Canadiens.

With their losses in games 6 and 7 last season, the Leafs now own a 0-10 record in their last 10 chances to clinch a playoff series.

The Leafs need to close the series out as soon as possible, and game 5 may be their best chance to do so. Scotiabank Arena will be rambunctious, and the Leafs will have tons of momentum after coming off back-to-back wins in Tampa.

But the Leafs need to play better. They were outplayed in game 3 but still managed to pull out the win, and Tampa was clearly the better team in game 4 in the first 2 periods.

Also, the Tampa Bay Lightning are still a fantastic team that has gone to 3-straight Stanley Cup Finals. Any win at this point won’t be easy against a team like that. The Leafs can’t let Tampa back in the series, the Lightning will take any chance they get.

This game reminds me of the 2018 second round, where the Washington Capitals had a chance to close out their nemesis, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in game 6. Since Alex Ovechkin entered the league in 2005, the Caps had never made it past round 2.

In those many years of frustration, the Penguins beat them in round 2 three times, in 2009, 2016, and 2017. The Penguins went on to win the cup each of those years.

With the Capitals leading 3-2 in the series, this game 6 was critical, but they pulled through and won, finally getting past round 2. Still to this day, that was the only time the Caps made it past round 2 with Alex Ovechkin on their team. Washington later won the Stanley Cup that season.

The key thing is Washington closed the series out as soon as they could. Had Pittsburgh forced a 7th game, the Caps easily could’ve come up short again, and we may have never gotten the iconic moment of Ovechkin lifting the cup.

Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, the Stanley Cup is still a long way away. But this game 5 is more than crucial for the Leafs. Just like Washington did in their run a few years back, the Leafs need to win this series as soon as possible.

Fans, players, and management are getting impatient with the lack of playoff success, and these playoffs may be the Leafs best chance to finally win a series.

We’ll see in a week or so if the Leafs are in the second round, or if fans are asking which of the core-four players will be traded.

Nonetheless, prepare for a crazy game 5.