Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly, and Frederik Andersen were determined to not let it happen again. Twice in their past three trips to the playoffs, the Boston Bruins had eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games. Despite acquiring John Taveres, the most sought-after free agent this past summer, the result was no different on Wednesday night. The Leafs experienced deja vu again as the Bruins won 5-1 in Game 7 of the first round of the NHL Playoffs at TD Garden.
Here's the NHL video recap!
The goaltending
Frederik Andersen did not have a particularly strong game, giving up 3 goals on 30 shots. The first Boston goal can be attributed to him not freezing the puck for a stoppage, leading to a turnover by Travis Dermott. Boston's Joakim Nordstrom's sharp angle shot found an opening to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead with 5:32 remaining in the first period.
Andersen was also beaten high, glove-side on a shot by Sean Kuraly from 30 feet away early in the third period. The goal restored Boston's two goal lead. With the loss tonight, Andersen's career record in Game 7s drops to 0-4.
The defence
Questions also remain about Toronto's defensive group as a whole after tonight's performance. Morgan Rielly proved that he's one of the best defencemen in the league after he scored a career-best 72 points in 82 regular season games, and added 5 more in the post-season. But other than him, and 30 year old Jake Muzzin, it's not a stretch to imagine that most of the defensive corp may not be back next season.
Leafs Coach Mike Babcock is known for his preference to play defencemen on their strong shooting side. The left-right shot imbalance is sure to be re-evaluated over the coming months.
The forwards
John Taveres's return to play for his hometown was a heartwarming storyline this season, but his single power play point produced this April was disappointing given the fanfare over his signing.
William Nylander's contractual holdout ended with him posting 27 points in 54 games, which put him on pace for 41 points over a full season. While this production can be considered good by most measures, it was much lower than the 61 points he averaged the previous two seasons. His 3 points and 14 shots on goal over the seven game series should provide a bit of redemption for him missing the first third of the regular season.
It was hard to fault Auston Matthews (5G, 1A) for his performance in the post-season, but he was held scoreless like most of his teammates on a night his team's season was hanging on the line. Fans will also be left wondering if the team could have produced more offensively had Nasim Kadri been available to play.
The Leafs were a disciplined team in Game 7, yielding the Bruins not a single power play. However, their own power play let them down as the series progressed, going 1-9 over the last four games.
The offseason
Leafs GM Kyle Dubas faces a challenging summer, with 19 players players reaching free agency. Tough decisions will need to be made regarding the futures of 22-year-old RW Mitch Marner (RFA), 23-year-old RW Kasperi Kapanen (RFA), 29-year-old LD Jake Gardiner (UFA), and 38-year-old LD Ron Hainsey (UFA). Marner in particular, is rumored to expect a salary of $10-12 million per season when he signs his next contract.
With the NHL Salary Cap expected to rise to $83 million for the 2019-20 season, the Leafs currently have just over $7.2 million dollars of cap space available for next season.
Post edited on April 25, 2019.
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Cover art: Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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