TORONTO — Saturday’s Game 7 showdown at TD Garden between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins will be a high-stakes battle filled with the echoes of postseason history. This final game of the Eastern Conference First Round pits two teams with plenty to prove, and one of them will need to overcome some painful memories to advance and face the Florida Panthers.
The Maple Leafs will be playing their fourth Game 7 in Boston in 11 years, having lost all three previous ones. The Bruins, meanwhile, are trying to banish the haunting memory of blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Panthers just last year, a series that ended with Boston losing Game 7 at home. Whichever team conquers their demons will move forward, while the other will be left to wonder what went wrong.
Toronto earned their spot in this decisive game with a tense 2-1 victory in Game 6 at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday. The Maple Leafs were down 3-1 in the series but managed to pull even, mirroring the Panthers’ comeback from a year ago. Now, the pressure is on to complete the comeback.
Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe acknowledged that his team would need to play with a sense of urgency, given that they’ve already faced do-or-die scenarios in the past two games. “In my mind, we just played two Game 7s,” Keefe said, referencing their wins in Games 5 and 6.
A big question mark for Toronto is the health of star center Auston Matthews, who missed the past two games with an undisclosed injury. Matthews left the morning skate before Game 5 and hasn’t played since. His absence puts more pressure on players like William Nylander, who scored both of Toronto’s goals in Game 6, and John Tavares, who set up the overtime winner in Game 5.
Nylander, who missed the first three games of the series, proved his worth with his dynamic performance in Game 6. His scoring touch and knack for delivering in crucial moments could be crucial if Matthews remains sidelined. “It was nice to get on the board scoring two goals,” Nylander said. “But I think the team effort, the way we battled and competed for the entire 60 minutes, well, that was incredible for us as well.”
To win their first Game 7 in Boston, the Maple Leafs will need to rewrite the script that has seen them fall short in 2013, 2018, and 2019, with a combined score of 17-9 in those losses. A few key factors will be crucial for Toronto: they must start strong, as they have in the past two games; they must improve a lackluster power play that’s just 1-for-20 in the series; and they need continued stellar goaltending from Joseph Woll, who has limited the Bruins to one goal in each of the past two games.
Woll, a 25-year-old who played college hockey at Boston College, seems unfazed by the pressure. After his stellar 27-save performance in Game 5, he spoke about his eagerness to play in front of the passionate Boston crowd. “I’m very excited,” he said. “It’s a great building to play in.”
The Maple Leafs hope Woll can maintain his composure and give them a chance to rewrite history in a place that has been their postseason nightmare. If he does, Toronto could finally find itself on the winning end of a Game 7 handshake at TD Garden.
