Game 7 is the most exciting game in hockey. It’s the one where everything is on the line and the one that gets your blood pumping. It’s the game that we all dreamt of playing as we skated on the local rink or a frozen pond. Last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins had a Game 7 date that had the hockey world talking.
Everyone thought it would be a battle from puck drop until the final buzzer rang, but it wasn’t. NHL fans are used to seeing the most exciting and intense hockey when two teams are tied and an ultimate game is to be played.
Both Teams Came Out Flat and Scared
Last night, though, it wasn’t the case. Both teams looked afraid rather than pumped up and ready to roar. Strangely, it felt like a boxing fight in which the boxers kept dancing around each other without anyone lunging forward toward his opponent. The kind of fight that would have fans screaming: “Get on with it!” For Canadiens’ fans, it looked oddly familiar as it was a startling reminder of how the team played in overtime under Dominique Ducharme. Like the former Canadiens’ bench boss, the teams seemed to hope the other team would tire itself out, but it never happened.
Of course, fans can appreciate a good goalie battle, but in a goalless tie after 40 minutes, neither goaltender had to perform miracles. There were shots, but none that were particularly trying. On social media, fans of the teams and hockey fans who were waiting to be entertained wondered when the show would start.
It seemed like the stage had been set but all of the acts had been so tamed that there was no build-up to the final scene. With Auston Matthews back in the lineup for the ultimate game and Ilya Samsonov in as Joseph Woll was injured, there was potential for a lot of drama. Emotions should have been running high, but they weren’t.
The Awakening
It took until halfway through the third frame before the Maple Leafs finally woke up from their deep slumber, but they would fall asleep again at the worst possible time later. It was William Nylander, once again, who broke through. The winger has scored the Leafs’ last three goals. With so much talent on the roster, that’s unacceptable, quite frankly.
With their back against the wall and contemplating the real possibility of their own demise, Boston got to work and equalized not even a minute and a half after the visitors had taken the lead. It looked as if Nylander had been stabbed through the heart.
With a score of 1-1 through regulation, extra time was required. Thankfully for everyone watching, it took less than two minutes for David Pastrnak to score as the Leafs’ players on the ice were “sleep-skating.” No one tried to prevent the Bruins’ star forward from recuperating the puck right in front of Samsonov’s net. Samsonov himself should have come and cleared the puck to the corner, instead he froze and got the best seat in the house to witness the game-winning goal.
Just like that, the Maple Leafs lost in Game 7 to the Boston Bruins for the fourth consecutive time. The last time Toronto won a Game 7 was in 2004, when they had Ed Belfour in the net. As we watched the Bruins celebrate and the Leafs shake their heads in disbelief, fans of other teams actually felt bad for the Leafs’ faithful. How many times have they had their hearts crushed since the start of the Big Four era? The answer is simple: too many times.
This latest defeat should be the final drop in the bucket. Heads should roll at many levels and it’s time for Toronto to acknowledge they cannot win with that core. General manager Brad Treliving hasn’t even been in the role for a year, so he should be retained. Hopefully, the former Calgary Flames GM knows that you need more than skills to survive in the playoffs; you need skilled players who can be gritty and physical; you need all of your players to be skillful but gritty and physical when needed. In short, you need players like, for instance, Matthew Tkachuk who Treliving had for a long time in Calgary.
Something is very wrong when the players can only play as a real team when their best player, Matthews, is not there. In the two games without Matthews, the Leafs looked like a well-oiled machine. The same can also be said when top defenseman Morgan Rielly is out of the lineup. The Maple Leafs might have been able to make a comeback in the series, but it changes nothing to the fact this team is clearly not suited to playoffs hockey, time to blow it up.
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