The Toronto Maple Leafs Recent Game 1 History

2018 Round 1: @ Boston Bruins

This game was absolutely brutal to watch from the perspective of a Leafs fan. The Leafs again went into this series as underdogs, but many thought they still had a solid shot against the Bruins in this series.

This Game 1 was rough for the Leafs. The Bruins won the game 5-1, with David Pastrnak recording three points for Boston, and the Leafs lone goal coming from Zach Hyman.

The Leafs bounced back to force a game 7, but ultimately lost the series 4-3.

2019 Round 1: @ Boston Bruins

The Leafs finally won a game 1 in the 2019 first round, taking down the Bruins 4-1. This game was huge for the Leafs, as they overcame an early 1-0 deficit on the road to take down their rivals in a massive game.

Mitch Marner led the way with two goals, including a highlight-worthy penalty shot goal.

The Leafs led this series 3-2, but ultimately fell to the Bruins in game 7 for the second straight year, and third time in seven seasons.

2020 Qualifying Round: vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Switching back to another game 1 to forget, this year brought us the 2020 bubble playoffs where the Leafs took on the Columbus Blue Jackets in the qualifying round.

The Leafs got shutout by Joonas Korpisalo in this one, falling 2-0 in this series' opening game. Frederick Andersen did his best, stopping 33/34 shots, but the Leafs offense was nowhere to be seen.

In game 4 of this series, the Leafs pulled off one of the greatest comebacks of all time, rallying from a 3-0 deficit in the final minutes of the game to force a deciding game 5, but ultimately lost that one as well, getting shutout for the second time in the series, losing 3-0.

With 2017-2020 now out of the way, let's move to 2021-2023.