Most fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs have probably heard of the stat that involves their team losing to the eventual Stanley Cup Finalist, which was true in 2013, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
However, if we dive deeper, we can find another wild stat that has followed the Leafs in almost every one of their recent playoff losses.
With the Florida Panthers winning the 2024 Stanley Cup, we can see that in eight of their last nine playoff appearances, the team that defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs were then defeated by the eventual champions.
Let's take a trip down memory lane and take a look at all of these playoff losses.
A Wild Playoff Trend Continues For the Toronto Maple Leafs
2013:
The 2013 Toronto Maple Leafs infamously lost in game seven of the first round to the Boston Bruins, who then battled their way to the Stanley Cup Final. In that final series, the Bruins fell short in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks.
2017:
The 2017 Leafs went from 30th in the NHL a year prior to shocking everyone and making the playoffs. In these playoffs, the Leafs battled hard against the President's Trophy-winning Washington Capitals, but lost in six games.
The Capitals then lost in the following round to their nemesis and eventual champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
2018:
This year is the lone year in recent memory that actually does not fall into this wild playoff trend.
While the Leafs did lose to the Bruins in round one, Boston was then defeated by Tampa Bay in the second round, who were then defeated by Washington in the conference finals.
2019:
Once again, the Leafs fell to the Bruins in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 2019, the Bruins lost only two more games before advancing to the final, where they were just one win away from winning Lord Stanley, but came up short to the St. Louis Blues.
Now let's go take a look at the years 2020-2024.