Leafs changing team narrative in Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Toronto Maple Leafs have flipped the script on the narrative surrounding the team as playoff chokers. That reputation has followed the Leafs around mainly due to their inability to close out series time and again.

The biggest debacle was in 2021 when they couldn’t finish off the Montreal Canadiens during the bubble playoffs. The Leafs failed to channel their killer instinct, allowing the Canadiens to get back into the series.

The epic collapse cemented a narrative that the Leafs have been unable to shake, until now. Their Game 4 loss was hardly a choke job. If anything, the Leafs showed tremendous composure by withstanding the onslaught in the first period. They came away down 2-1, eventually tying the game in the third on a fantastic goal by Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

The overtime goal wasn’t a mental lapse. It wasn’t a blown play, and it certainly wasn’t stupid play or a power play goal following a dumb penalty.

The Senators won fair and square.

Now, the only way the Leafs can finally shake off the “playoff chokers” narrative is to close out the series on Tuesday night. A five-game series win will prove that Toronto has turned over a new leaf (pun intended).

These are not the same Toronto Maple Leafs we have come to know during the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner era. This is a different team that has grown into a true contender.

Maturity, the key to Toronto Maple Leafs’ playoff success thus far

During the TV broadcast on Saturday night, the discussion focused on how much the Toronto Maple Leafs have matured this season.

With good reason.

Auston Matthews was still a kid when the Washington Capitals dispatched them in 2018. Same for Marner and Nylander. They lacked a true captain. Even after John Tavares joined the team, he hadn’t had the opportunity to captain a team throughout a long playoff run.

Matthews is 27 years old now and has fully blossomed into one of the NHL’s best captains. He’s a 200-foot player who controls the game at both ends of the ice.

Marner is the real deal, Nylander is as dangerous as ever, and it seems John Tavares took a trip to Shangri-la during the offseason.

Then, there’s Matthew Knies who is playing well beyond his years.

Throw in Anthony Stolarz, who has shaken off any doubt regarding his lack of playoff experience, and the Leafs look poised to make it this season.

But we won’t be reading and writing about it unless they can move in for the kill on Tuesday night. A series win at home will go a long way toward appeasing the mobs of Leafs Nation, giving a long-starving fan base something it has always wanted.