Maple Leafs take historical view; Nylander status uncertain for Game 2

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The Maple Leafs went down history lane on Sunday.

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A year and a few days ago, the Leafs were clobbered in the first game of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, losing Game 1 at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 7-3.

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Two nights later, the Leafs beat the Lightning 7-2 and we know what happened next: Three overtime victories by Toronto in the next four games and the first playoff series win by the Leafs since 2004. 

“We don’t like to look in the past, but we didn’t like our first game last year in the first round and we bounced back in the second game,” Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe said to media in Boston. “It’s a long series. We’ve bounced back all year so I don’t see why we can’t do it again. It’s one game. You can’t sit here and hang your head.”

Whether the Leafs have William Nylander, who is nursing an undisclosed injury, in the lineup for Game 2 remains to be seen.

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Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe refused to provide an update on Nylander’s status, though the gifted winger reportedly was on the ice in Boston while the majority of his teammates had the day off. On the whole, Keefe would not commit to whether there would be lineup changes of any kind.

One difference between Saturday and the playoff opener last spring was that the Leafs turned in one of their worst efforts in months when they opened against Tampa. 

Not so in a 5-1 loss to the Bruins in the first game of the best-of-seven series on Saturday night at the TD Garden, though in the moment, it wasn’t a good look for Toronto. As they usually do in the playoffs, special teams and goaltending provided a difference, and both happened to land in Boston’s favour.

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The Bruins scored when they had a man advantage and the Leafs did not. Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman made key saves when required and Toronto’s Ilya Samsonov did not.

In keeping with a weird hockey tradition that doesn’t overly worry the opposition, neither Keefe nor Bruins coach Jim Montgomery would confirm his starting goalie for Game 2. For Keefe, the option is Joseph Woll, who had an .890 save percentage in 10 games after he returned from a high ankle sprain. That could keep Keefe from making a change, and considering the confidence the Leafs have in Samsonov, it would be a mild surprise if Keefe decided to tap Woll on the shoulder. Last spring, Samsonov was pulled in Game 1 against Tampa in favour of Woll and was right back in for Game 2. 

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Montgomery has alternated between Swayman and Linus Ullmark for a while, but keeping that rotation intact after the way that Swayman shut down the Leafs with 35 saves in Game 1 might be difficult. Either  way, the Bruins have better goaltending than the Leafs.

For the Leafs to head back to Toronto tied 1-1 in the best-of-seven series, they’re going to have to get more from everyone, and leading in that way has to be Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. 

If you’re a fan who lives and dies with every time a Leaf touches the puck, the disappointment that the Leafs’ top two players didn’t make a difference in Game 1 would be well-placed. Keep in mind that a year ago, they helped drive the Leafs’ surge against the Lightning.

The level of execution has to be rooted in more urgency on the part of the Leafs from the opening faceoff. Matthews and Marner are paid to lead and produce in that manner. 

Keefe had the proper outlook on Sunday. His players sounded like they were already taking heed.

“It’s a playoff series,” Keefe said. “You have to be able to move on and you make your adjustments and you get back at it. That’s really it. 

“You can’t get too worked up about it. When the game finishes the way it did (on Saturday) or whether we lose the game in overtime, we’re still down 1-0. We’ve been through this and we’ve bounced back well. We have an opportunity to do that again (in Game 2).”

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