Lightning and Leafs: A study in contrasts
There was almost nothing separating Toronto and Tampa, with the exception that one played like a champion and the other like a team still trying to find its way
If Toronto Maple Leaf fans want to point to NHL officiating as the reason for their team losing in the first round to the Tampa Bay Lightning, have at it. You’ll simply be telling yourself a lie so you can feel better, and you probably know that already. But you are the most tortured fans in the NHL, perhaps in all of sports, so do whatever it takes to get through this. There’s a reason why denial is the first of the seven stages of grief.
But know this. The difference between beating the two-time Stanley Cup champion and having your playoff hopes smashed came down to just one thing. The champion played like one and the Leafs played like a team trying to find its own way. Still.
Case in point (pun intended): Late in the first period, Brayden Point went down after his skate hit a rut and he suffered what looked like a painful injury to one of his hip, groin or knee. Does it even really matter? In any event, he tried to play one shift in the second period before hobbling back to the bench. And so went the Lightning’s premier driver of play and one of their best players. But he sat on the Lightning bench for the rest of the game, even though he couldn’t play. “We fell back on the standard that is set for this group,” said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. “And that’s just to do whatever it takes to win. No matter who does it, when, why…It’s certainly a contagious feeling and attitude.”
By contrast, the Maple Leafs were playing Game 7 in part because of a two-man advantage the Lightning had in Game 6 in which they scored the tying goal. One of the calls was legitimate, the other phantom. Then, not long after Point left Game 7, John Tavares appeared to tie the game on a goal that was called back on the chintziest of interference calls you’re ever going to see. It was the kind of call that should earn Eric Furlatt a place in Toronto’s psyche that for the past three decades has been occupied by Kerry Fraser. Morgan Rielly tied the score not long after that, but then the Leafs gave it right back to Tampa when Nick Paul scored his second of the game, and the game-winner, about three minutes later.
One team faced adversity head-on and played like a champion. The other did not. It was that simple.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have not advanced past the first round since 2004, when the NHL’s salary cap was nothing more than a bargaining ploy. Since then, they’ve either been terrible or they’ve lost in every way imaginable. They’ve lost when they’ve led series. They’ve lost when they’ve trailed series. They’ve lost when the officials have swallowed their whistles and when they’ve called everything, including infractions that never occurred. They’ve lost so many times in so many ways and have so many excuses that they simply cannot be considered anything but losers. Losers lose. It’s what they do.
And while you’re lying to yourself, make sure you bring up that the Leafs had the best regular-season team in franchise history and stood toe-to-toe against the two-time Cup champions. For that, the Leafs can now go to the podium to collect their Participation Badge, while the Lightning try to beat the Florida Panthers in the second round of the playoffs. This loss was not even close to being as inexcusable as some of them in the recent past, but they still lost. And they are now 0-9 in games in which they’ve had an opportunity to close out a series. Even though the Leafs are a very, very good team, how can you possibly return next season with the same players, coaching staff and management team?
It would not be fair to fire coach Sheldon Keefe and then throw a Brinks truck worth of money at Barry Trotz, who suddenly finds himself on the free agent market. But nothing about this game is fair and it owes nothing to anyone. Just ask fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Can a Stanley Cup winner who led the New York Islanders to back-to-back appearances in the conference final be the person who gets the Leafs over the top? Do they need their own version of Pat Maroon, a tough guy who can still actually play and is willing to do so for a pittance? Something is missing here. You don’t miss this many times in this many creative ways without making changes.
The Lightning were deferential to the Leafs after the game, saying all the right things about them and their players. Lightning coach Jon Cooper pointed out that he has coached Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly (with Team North America in the World Cup in 2016) and Mitch Marner with Canada in the World Championship. And if any one of them were ever to go on the market, he’d be the first to want them on his team. But Stamkos, once again, reminded everyone that it takes more than just talent to win in the playoffs. “They’ve got all the pieces,” Stamkos said of the Leafs. “It’s just, it’s not easy. It’s not easy this time of the year. You’ve just got to get over that hump. After some time, that becomes mental, but it certainly wasn’t because they’re not worthy of it. They are. That was one of the toughest series we’ve played.”
You’ve got to get over that hump. And on Saturday night, the Leafs were on the cusp of doing that, before tumbling back down to the bottom. And when they try to do it again in 2023, they’ll have a little more baggage to carry.