The Toronto Maple Leafs need to take the next few days to figure out how to handle success before facing the Boston Bruins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, NESN, TBS, truTV, and MAX).
They trail the best-of-7 series 2-1 after losing Game 3 4-2 at home on Wednesday.
“It’s just consistency and staying focused,” coach Sheldon Keefe said Thursday. “Sometimes you might go up on a high and start feeling fantastic, and you have to be able to manage it, especially during the playoffs.
Whether it’s shift to shift, period to period, or game to game, these things are critical for staying focused on the process and the factors that contribute to success.
“That’s really what we will focus on and press on and get ready to have another bounce back game like we did after Game 1 and our mindset will be very similar.”
Nylander missed Games 1-3
It’s unknown whether Maple Leafs forward William Nylander will be available for Game 4. He missed Games 1-3 due to an unknown injury after setting an NHL career best of 98 points (40 goals, 58 assists) during the regular season.
“We’ve been working with ‘Willy’ to give him the time that he needs to be ready to play,” he stated. “The medical team works with him on a daily basis to see where he is at, and we continue to assess that.”
Without Nylander, the Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead in Game 3 with Matthew Knies’ goal at 13:10 of the second session. They promptly allowed a breakaway by Bruins forward James van Riemsdyk, which Ilya Samsonov stopped.
A roughing penalty on Tyler Bertuzzi at 19:44 resulted in a Jake DeBrusk goal and a 2-1 Bruins lead 67 seconds into the third period. Bertuzzi drew it 2-2 at 11:25, but Boston answered 28 seconds later with Brad Marchand’s game-winning goal.
The Maple Leafs had only four more shots until Marchand scored an empty-net goal at 19:24.
“We didn’t handle the momentum very well,” Knies admitted afterward. “Going into the last period we gave up a goal right off the kill and that just ruined our momentum.”
Defenseman Morgan Rielly blamed it on minor mistakes, giving Toronto a lot less room to be complacent in Game 4. “It was only for a moment,” he explained. “It’s simply a question of taking your eye off the ball, and they’re able to capitalize, which is the difference.
But, to be clear, it is not simply that play. The penalty kill occurs early in the period after you give one up. “You have to be more dialed than that.”
Toronto Maple Leafs and the Stanley Cup
The Toronto Maple Leafs have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967. One of hockey’s most devoted fans has endured more than five decades of grief and despair.
Every year, there is hope that this will be the season when they break the curse. However, the club consistently fails to meet expectations, leaving fans disappointed and hoping for better days ahead.
Despite having some of the NHL’s best players, the Leafs can’t manage to get over the hump and win the coveted championship. It’s a drought that won’t end until the team lifts Lord Stanley’s Cup in triumph.
Until then, long-suffering Leaf supporters eager to experience Stanley Cup success once more must endure the wait.
Source: NHL.com
