Toronto Maple Leafs: Will One Win Make You BeLeaf?

If the Toronto Maple Leafs win tonight, will you start to beLeaf?

In the history of the NHL, only four teams have came back from down 3-0 to win a playoff series, so the Toronto Maple Leafs will try to become the fifth team in roughly 100 years to do so.

If there’s one bright spot about this statistic, there have been two team’s in the past 13 years to accomplish this goal, so it isn’t impossible. It’s incredibly unlikely but at the same time, can the Florida Panthers really win their seventh straight playoff game? They’ve been on an absolute heater lately that it’s time for them to take a seat back for a few games and let the Leafs back in this.

So, what happens if the Leafs win tonight and there’s a Game 5 at home on Friday night? Will you all of a sudden start to believe or will you need another win or two to get invested into this series?

After their disappointing Game 3 loss, it’s hard to have faith in this squad. It was the biggest game of the season and the effort was equivalent to the second game of a back-to-back in November. After two full days of rest, you’d think that the Leafs would be chomping at the bit to run through a wall against Florida, but instead looked scared, were afraid to hit and their big boy’s didn’t show up.

Will You Start BeLeafing If Toronto Maple Leafs Win Game 4?

We’ve seen the Toronto Maple Leafs play very good hockey during the playoffs, including a dominant Game 2 and come-from-behind victory in Game 4. Toronto wasn’t the best team all series but they were resilient and had a full 60 minutes of effort, getting the big goal when it mattered.

Against Florida thus far, they’ve fallen behind, yet they haven’t been able to rally back. It looked like they would during Game 1, but ultimately fell short. They played awesome in Game 2, but Sergei Bobrovsky was brilliant, denying them of a victory at home. Then, as previously mentioned, Game 3 was an utter disaster, although they managed to get the game to overtime.

Every puck battle and every shift matters in the playoffs, yet this team is playing like they have the luxury of time. When they step on the ice, it feels like they think they’ll just magically come back and win, instead of putting in the work to do so.

I’ve crapped on this team a lot over the past few days and I think every word has been deserved, but I’m not willing to blow the entire team up until this series is over. I will also continue to believe that they can come back and win because what’s the point of being a fan if you can’t root for the impossible?

The best sports stories are always about the underdog with the narrative being about the unexpected, so why can’t the Toronto Maple Leafs come back and win this series? They’ve always been on the wrong side of the unexpected, going back to their blown 4-1 lead in Game 7 of the 2013 playoffs, so why can’t they do something special?

If they can get into Bobrovsky’s head, they have a chance, but it’ll be a tall task to complete. However, let’s see a Game 4 victory and start beLeafing.