The Toronto Maple Leafs surprised a lot of people by extending their first-round series of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Boston Bruins to seven games. The Maple Leafs were without their star Auston Matthews for a chunk of the series.
Matthews was dealing with an illness that was bad enough that doctors removed him from the lineup ahead of the third period in Game 4. Down 3-1 in the series, Matthews would miss the following two games.
Despite facing elimination, the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to rally without their best player in the lineup. They won Game 5 on the road before picking up another victory at home in Game 6. Unfortunately, even with Matthews getting back in the lineup for Game 7, their comeback attempt fell short.
That has been a common theme for the franchise in recent years. The team has found plenty of success in the regular season, earning a playoff berth in eight straight seasons. But, none of that success has carried over into the postseason.
In fact, that has led to the Toronto Maple Leafs matching some very ugly playoff history. As shared by OptaSTATS on X, they are the second team in MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL history to make the playoffs for eight straight seasons and win one or fewer playoff rounds over that span. The only other franchise to do so was the Buffalo Sabres from 1988-1995.
This drought follows up a stretch in which the Maple Leafs made the postseason only once in 11 seasons. It can be argued that this one hurts even more as all the work done in the regular season is quickly undone by disappointing showings in the playoffs.
2002 was the last time the Maple Leafs won more than one series in a single postseason. One of the most storied franchises in NHL history hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967 and that drought has had one more year added onto it.
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