Nipped in the bud
Overtime loss ends Leafs’ playoff run, but young team has bright future
In the echoes of the loss, the Toronto Maple Leafs all sang from the same songbook. They were proud of themselves. They had come a long way. The end of this season hurt, but what a season. The songs were all the same.
“We’re proud of ourselves, we’re going to keep our heads high, and we’re going to keep this thing going,” said Nazem Kadri, after the Leafs lost 2-1 in overtime to the Washington Capitals to end their first-round series in six games, five of which went to OT.
“We’ve still got a ways to go. We’re climbing, though. We’re climbing. We’re on our way up. The future’s bright for us. And something like this, playing a team like Washington, a Cup-contending team, and giving them everything we had and everything they could handle . . .”
That is what happened, all right. Game 6 was tense and scoreless for a long time, and then Auston Matthews scored in the third period for the fourth straight game off a cinematic bounce, and the Leafs needed to hold one lead for 12 minutes to get to Game 7. Just that.
But the Capitals rose up and scored five minutes later, and in overtime. After all the heart attacks, they were dominant. Finally, after the Leafs were pinned into an icing, a Justin Williams shot landed in front and Marcus Johansson batted it home for his second goal of the game at the 6:31 mark. 2-1, Capitals. They advance.
And that was the end. Washington coach Barry Trotz congratulated Toronto’s Mike Babcock afterward, and said he felt like he watched the Leafs grow in front of his eyes.
“The reality is, it’s a great year for our team,” said Babcock. “And it would have been great to go to Game 7.”
When it was over Alexander Ovechkin took an extra second to pat Matthews on the chest, and he had time for Kadri, too.
The Leafs played seven rookies in Game 6, and their future stretches in front of them, now. This is probably the last time it will be perfect: the last first time this team played with no expectations, had no real scars, had a glittering road stretching out in front of them for as far as they could see. They lived up to it.
“Just the experience, playing a good team, being in all these onegoal games, a lot of overtime games, that’s an experience we didn’t get last year,” said defenceman Morgan Rielly, who had a whale of a series. “Getting used to this atmosphere, getting used to this feeling. I think it’s good. It’s added motivation, because we want to be in this situation every year, where we’re playing in the playoffs and winning series and moving on and playing deep into the off-season.”
“I think we gave it our all,” said Matthews. “I think we left it all out of the ice. I think we have a bright future. We didn’t want the journey to end so soon, but that’s hockey, that’s sport for you.”
And when it ended there was a shocked silence, and then people rose and cheered in appreciation, and chanted — Go Leafs Go, and Fred-die, Fred-die — and the Leafs and Capitals shook hands. Hell of a game. Hell of a series. Hell of a season, all in all.
Before the game, Rielly talked about the team’s quiet confidence over dinners at training camp: how they had speed, how Babcock encouraged them, how Rielly decided Matthews would be the team’s best player after the second time they skated together.
“I mean, where does (belief ) come from?” said Rielly. “It comes from within. Guys believing in one another. Our coach believing in us. Us believing in him.”
And when they blew leads they never wilted, because as Rielly says, “we had the leads to begin with. We went out there and played well. We were playing with the good teams. We were beating good teams. And then you have this idea in your head that you could be good, and then you go out there and start winning games. You see Auston score four in his first game and start thinking, OK. I mean, you get rolling, you start winning games, you get a streak together. And you realize that, enough talking about it: There’s proof now that we are good. Let’s have some swagger and play well.”
This Leafs team could be great next season. Not good, great. At the morning skate, Trotz was asked about the parity in the league, and he delivered a soliloquy.
“The teams that are able to get off to a good start, that are able to have consistency, and have good health — you can put up a pretty good record, and we did that this year,” said Trotz. “But there’s other teams, like the Toronto Maple Leafs. You look at each month: they got better and better, they’ve got great structure, they’re organized, Mike’s done a great job with them, they’re talented, and they kept getting better and better.”
“They’re a good hockey team. And to get in the playoffs in this league you have to be a very good hockey team. And the difference is very minimal. And you’re seeing it in the other series, and you’re seeing who can get hot, who gets the odd break, who can keep pushing their will, to fight through the adversity that this league and the other teams bring upon you.”
“That’s the greatness of this league. Because it tests you to be great. It tests you to be consistent, and it tests and pushes you in ways that you’ve never been pushed before. You find out a lot about yourself, and you grow from it. And that’s why playoffs, series, that’s why they’re so special, and that’s why you should enjoy it.”
These Leafs were tested, and learned that they can play with anybody. They will grow from this. A Game 7 would have been something, wouldn’t it? It would have been, yes.
But it ended with a thud, and in the end they all sang from the same songbook. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t true.