The Toronto Maple Leafs are in for another long summer after being beaten by the Boston Bruins once again in a Game 7. It took until overtime of the final contest of the series, but history repeated itself yet again when the two Original Six rivals met in the Eastern Conference first-round in 2024. And it's Boston moving on to Florida, and Toronto headed for an offseason that could see radical change.
Auston Matthews, who was the game-breaker in Game 2 but missed Games 4-6 due to illness and injury, revealed the extent of his ailments at the team's media availability on Monday.
“It was tough. I got really, really sick after Game 2, played in Game 3, was still kind of trying to recover going into Game 4. Took a weird hit and couldn't go any longer, and that's as detailed as I'm going to get into it,” the 69-goal regular-season scorer told reporters, including Sportsnet.
“It was tough. It was really frustrating, it sucks, and it was killing me to watch. Proud of the guys and how they fought, climbed our way back into the series, I was fortunate to get to play in that Game 7, and just tried to go out there and give it my all, and obviously it's disappointing and frustrating being here today.”
Matthews stepped up in a huge way in Game 2, scoring the game-winning goal and adding two assists to help Toronto steal back home-ice advantage. But he was a non-factor in Game 3 and only played two periods in Game 4 as Boston opened up a 3-1 lead in the series.
The Leafs were able to send the series to a Game 7 without the services of their best player, winning Game 5 at TD Garden and Game 6 at Scotiabank Arena — both by 2-1 scores — to force a decider in Massachusetts.
Matthews was able to return for the tilt, and things were looking good when he set up William Nylander for the go-ahead goal with just under 11 minutes left in regulation. But the 1-0 lead wouldn't last two minutes before Hampus Lindholm tied things up.
And after David Pastrnak's overtime heartbreaker just moments into the extra frame, it's back to the drawing board — and the beginning of another long summer in Leafland.
Another long offseason for Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs
Besides beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the first-round of 2023, the Leafs haven't won another playoff series since 2004. And they've lost six straight series-deciding games, proving that the core is just unable to get the job done in the critical moments.
It's still nowhere near a Stanley Cup for this franchise, and you've got to think the roster — or the front office — are going to look at least a little bit different come training camp.
“[We lost] Game 7 in OT. I was out for games. Matty was out for games,” Nylander told reporters on Monday. “We battled to get back in the series and I think that's huge to have in a group, regardless of who is playing. I'm not happy with the result … but I think what we have in here is great.”
The Leafs did a great job getting the series to seven games, there's no doubt about that. There weren't a lot of believers after losing Game 4 on home ice. But it doesn't change the fact that the current iteration of this roster is not working, at least not in its goal of bringing a first Stanley Cup since 1967 to Toronto.
It'll be intriguing to see what changes are made this summer as the Leafs reckon with yet another postseason heartbreak.
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