After a spirited comeback in the best-of-seven series against the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs fell just short once again in advancing past the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
But unlike their previous playoff encounters in the past when the Bruins appeared to own the Toronto Maple Leafs in all aspects of the game, this time both teams seemed to be quite evenly matched as the series progressed.
The pesky Bruins were no longer pushing the feeble Leafs around, as the Leafs matched them hit for hit and shot for shot. At times, it even felt like the Leafs were even controlling play over Boston as well.
Then why did the outcome not go the Maple Leafs way in the end? Did they somehow do something wrong that led to their playoff failure once again?
5 Things That Went Wrong for the Toronto Maple Leafs During the Playoffs Against the Boston Bruins
Here, we will take a look at five things that went wrong for Toronto that ultimately led to their undeserving downfall this time around.
Woeful Power Play
One of the main strengths of the Maple Leafs became one of their main weaknesses in the playoffs once again, just like in recent years.
After finishing seventh in the league with a 24% success rate with the man advantage, the Leafs power play hit the dumps against Bruins as they went a dismal 1-for-21 in the series. Only the Los Angeles Kings managed to any worse, failing to score at all 5-on-4 in their entire series against the Edmonton Oilers.
With the potent firepower found within the Maple Leafs lineup, it is actually quite perplexing to see them struggle every year once the playoffs rolled around.
However, it is a huge redundant problem that needs to be fixed going forward if they want to have any future success in their Stanley Cup runs. With games often close at this time of year, special teams’ goals almost always is the difference maker for a potential contending team.