Achi news desk-
BOSTON – When Brad Treliving was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs last spring, he made a point of digging through the finer points of a postseason that ended in a five-game second-round series loss to Florida.
What did he find?
“I looked at the team and studied the team and watched and in the play-offs we didn’t score,” said Treliving The Athletics last month. “Everyone thinks it’s, ‘Oh, we didn’t defend or we weren’t tough enough.’ We didn’t score.”
Treliving’s view from the Leafs suite for his first playoff game since being hired as general manager would have looked uncomfortably similar to what he saw on tape at the time: Saturday night at TD Garden the game’s forwards didn’t break. r game wide open, the power play was completely stunned by the Boston Bruins’ patient kill and the Leafs must have left the floor with the idea that they were up against an extremely confident goaltender in Jeremy Swayman who isn’t n going to be broken easily.
It’s only one game in a run to four wins, sure, but this 5-1 defeat felt like a worst-case scenario come true.
For starters, it marked the eighth consecutive playoff game in which the Leafs failed to score more than two goals. That’s an extremely worrisome stat for a team built to win on its offensive talent. Only Colorado scored more times than Toronto during the regular season this year.
It sure didn’t help that Swayman was sharp and William Nylander was unavailable due to injury, but the power play was weak and bland. The Leafs produced just four shots on goal during three opportunities with the man advantage – all of them during a 4-on-3 to start the second period on fresh ice – and they may have to look somewhere else for another on the top unit if Nylander remains sidelined for Game 2 because he didn’t look too crisp with Calle Järnkrok in his place.
“It’s not good,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said, before a question about his power play had even finished being asked. “It was very slow and disconnected. Not good enough.”
To make matters worse, the Leafs allowed two power play goals against and gave the Bruins five chances through undisciplined play, most notably a foul call against Max Domi after he hacked Brad Marchand’s wrist off the face new is unnecessary.
Domi is called for breaking pic.twitter.com/yr0uRgAcCK
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 21, 2024
The result of that was twofold. He helped inject life into the Bruins’ struggling power play that was a big question mark heading into this series. It also continued a disturbing recent trend for the Leafs after they showed unusual composure in giving up 17 power plays to opponents during a four-game losing streak to end the regular season.
“We have to be a little bit more willing to do it a little bit and not get so emotionally invested and stay within the game,” Leafs forward Tyler Bertuzzi said.
“Obviously, in playoffs, it’s a special teams kind of thing,” Mitch Marner added. “He can really win you a series.”
It can lose you one too.
The appropriate termination situations appear large. Swayman was superb in Game 1, turning away Nick Robertson with his right pad early before John Beecher finished off a 2-on-1 rush going the other way.
That’s certainly not the fault of Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who made most of the saves you’d expect him to make while giving up four goals on 23 shots, but also producing no confidence steals.
Given the roller-coaster season that saw him placed on waivers and provided a mental leave from the team in January before returning to post a strong 23-7-8 record overall, it’s anyone’s guess what will come next next. He allowed five and six goals, respectively, in his last two regular season appearances before being tagged with four more on Saturday.
“It doesn’t matter, I’ve (forgotten) about this and I’m still working,” said Samsonov. “This does not mean that after three games I (became) a bad goalkeeper. We are seeing in the last three months what is happening. I believe in myself. I believe in my skill. I believe everyone in this locker room.”
To their credit, the Leafs showed no sense of panic or frustration immediately after a disappointing start to the playoff campaign. The players spoke in measured tones and quietly noted the symptoms that led to this setback.
“It’s tight,” said Auston Matthews, who finished with five shots on goal and hit a post after getting a free look when Swayman lost a race to the puck. “They are a very patient team. They play well defensively. We have to continue to challenge the net and get guys there and try to outnumber them.”
Toronto and Boston share the NHL’s longest streak of qualifying for the playoffs in eight years, meaning neither side needs to be reminded of the twists and turns that were likely to be before them.
The Leafs were swept by Tampa in Game 1 of a series they won last spring, while the Bruins won their opener against Florida – and three of the first four games – before seeing their season end in overtime. Game 7.
Still, a night in Boston with the swinging Garden and garbage time arriving long before the final buzzer felt a little too familiar.
“We’ve been here a lot,” Marner said.
It remains to be seen whether that experience is a good thing, or becomes a bad thing.
(Photo: Jake DeBrusk celebrates with Charlie McAvoy and Charlie Coyle after scoring in the second period: Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)
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