Maple Leafs hoping for a comeback worthy of 1993
Hammered in their first two playoff road games, his stars stymied, fans in a flap and the media sharpening its knives, the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs called a meeting, called out some players and the team bounced back to make the conference final. What worked for Pat Burns 25 years ago this week might not apply to Mike Babcock’s younger club, but with dire numbers confronting the 2018 Leafs — Boston’s big line has 20 points, while Toronto has just a 11.3 per cent chance of success based on how other NHL teams have fared in 0-2 holes — it’s worth noting the 1993 team recovered its regular season mojo in time.
“If we believe we’re beat, then we are beat,” Burns growled after his group shlepped home from Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, soundly beaten 6-3 and 6-2.
“One thing we’ve got to do is stop listening to everything.” Much of that was repeated Sunday in Toronto. The night before, at Boston’s TD Garden, defenceman Nikita Zaitsev expressed similar thoughts after a 7-3 loss brought the Leafs to a 12-4 goal differential in the series.
“This is serious,” Zaitsev said. “You’re not allowed to show the other team you’re done.” Reprising the role of criticized captain Wendel Clark in ’93 is captain-in-waiting Auston Matthews. He had points in nine straight games at the end of the regular season and seemed ready to take another step in playoffs.
So far, he’s shooting blanks, denied by a combination of Patrice Bergeron’s line and the seawall of defenceman Zdeno Chara and goaltender Tuukka Rask. “We need to regroup and take a deep breath,” Matthews said Saturday. “We have to be way more disciplined. They’re getting way too many power plays (and) we’re not (generating) enough.” Like the ’93 Leafs who won the next two games in Toronto, beat Detroit in seven and got within a win of the Stanley Cup final, this team needs to maximize its homeice advantage. These 2017-18 Leafs won a franchise record 29 at home, including two one-goal decisions over Boston.
“That’s going to mean a lot,” Matthews said. “That starts Monday.” These Leafs don’t have Doug Gilmour, a rough and ready defence or the veteran presence Burns leaned on 25 years ago. But they’d better develop their own chemistry, or they ’ll be cleaning out their lockers on Friday.