BOSTON– For the fourth time in 11 years, the Toronto Maple Leafs said goodbye to their season with a handshake line at center ice at TD Garden after losing Game 7 to the Boston Bruins.
The question is: how many of them will say goodbye again in the coming weeks, this time to the Toronto organization?
Certainly, the Maple Leafs, buoyed by the return of the star center Auston Matthewsfought valiantly in a heartbreaking battle 2-1 loss in overtime to the Bruins in the deciding game of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Saturday.
But they lost.
Again.
Make that one playoff win in the last 20 years. And six straight Game 7 losses dating back to 2013.
Establish a 1-8 record in the Stanley Cup Playoff series in which Matthews, the forwards Mitch Marner And William Nylanderand defender Morgane Rielly — most of the core of the team — appeared.
How to bring back the same group?
That’s the question first-year general manager Brad Treliving has to think about.
Plus, how safe is Coach Sheldon Keefe? Even team president Brendan Shanahan?
These are issues that new Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment President and CEO Keith Pelley may need to address.
As for the players, Keefe was asked about the future of the core and if he thought it could eventually break through. Keep in mind that this group includes the captain John Tavareswho is 1-6 in the playoffs with the Maple Leafs.
“We’ve been talking about it for a long time and we’ve been trying to break through for a long time,” the coach said. “So, you know, any response will fall on deaf ears in that sense. And I understand that.
“All I will say is the group came together around me, and the way it came together here last week and throughout the season, this group was different this year. The core you are referring to is no different. The guys around were different, the feeling around the team was different, we played differently.
Unfortunately for the Maple Leafs and their legion of loyal and long-suffering fans, the result was not to be.
And afterward, crushed players were saying pretty much the same things they had said after so many frequent early playoff exits.
“We’ve been through a lot together,” Matthews said of the core. “I mean, at the end of the day, it’s a game of thumbs (and) we haven’t gotten over that hurdle yet.” But obviously, over the years, we grew and we became extremely close.
Give credit where credit is due.
Matthews, who won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for most goals in the regular season (69), worked valiantly to return to the lineup for Game 7 after being out since the third period of Game 4 due to an undisclosed illness/injury.
Nylander, meanwhile, revealed that he missed the first three games of the series because of migraines, which he said gave him blurry vision. He rebounded to score Toronto’s final three goals of the series.
“It stinks, to be honest,” he said when asked about the loss. “We were very close and we fought in the series.
” I do not know what to say. It’s an empty feeling right now.
