3 things Toronto Maple Leafs did wrong in elimination Game 7 vs Boston Bruins

After trailing 3-1 behind the Boston Bruins in their playoff series, the Toronto Maple Leafs clawed their way to a 3-3 tie, but suffered a heartbreaker in tonight’s Game 7, with the final score of 2-1 at TD Garden.

As the Leafs’ postseason record of futility extends to one more season, it’s worthwhile to look at the three areas where the Maple Leafs faltered in this elimination game.

3 things Toronto Maple Leafs got wrong in elimination Game 7

#1: Shortening up the bench late in the game

Early in the contest, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe rolled out four lines consistently. Keeping Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, and Mitch Marner was a smart move. Then, deploying David Kämpf, Connor Dewar, and Calle Järnkrok worked well.

The duo of John Tavares and Matthew Knies looked especially good while pairing Auston Matthews and William Nylander was a savvy move.

However, Keefe shortened his bench midway through the third period, which led to the opening goal. But as the third period progressed, Keefe relied too much on Matthews, Marner, Tavares, and Nylander.

Keefe tried loading up his lines down the stretch but the strategy failed to deliver. This ultimately backfired as the game went into overtime. Instead, the coach could have relied on his more defensively responsible guys, allowing the top scorers to take advantage of their chances.

#2: A non-existent powerplay

The Toronto Maple Leafs were among the top five powerplay teams during the regular season. But during this series, their powerplay only managed a single goal. As analyst Luke Fox pointed out, the Leafs’ powerplay registered 4.76% in the series.

This stat will haunt Sheldon Keefe while leading GM Brad Treliving to search for answers during the offseason. In the meantime, Boston’s penalty kill deserves significant credit. They held the line and managed to shut down big-time scorer Auston Matthews.

In tonight’s game, the Toronto Maple Leafs went 0 for 2 with the man advantage. It’s easy to speculate that if the Buds had scored on at least one of those opportunities, the game’s outcome would have been much different.

#3: Typical mental lapses

While the Bruins dominated the first period, the Leafs controlled the entire middle frame. Then, Toronto finally broke through, with top guns Matthews and Nylander connecting on a nifty play.

But that’s when one of the Leafs’ typical mental lapses occurred. 81 seconds later, a broken play in front of the net led to a seeing-eye shot from Hampus Lindholm, catching the top corner on the short side.

It’s hard to blame Ilya Samsonov for that goal. Nevertheless, the OT winner was a good example of how the Toronto Maple Leafs’ mental lapses lead to broken plays that result in the puck finding the back of the net.