If the Bruins lose in Game 7, they will be the first team in NHL, NBA, and MLB history to blow back-to-back 3-1 series leads in the playoffs.
If the Bruins lose in Game 7, they will be the first team in NHL, NBA, and MLB history to blow back-to-back 3-1 series leads in the playoffs.
If the Maple Leafs have shown anything throughout this gruelling playoff series against the Boston Bruins, they're learning what it takes to win.
When Tyler Bertuzzi stepped in front of the cameras following Toronto's Game 6 win against Boston on Thursday night, he was asked how he felt.
"Tired. It was a grind of a game," the 29-year-old forward said. "Great 60-minute effort by all the guys and [we're] heading to Boston."
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This series between the Maple Leafs and Bruins is the definition of mayhem. Goals are hard to come by, there isn't much open ice, and the amount of hits is astonishing throughout the six games played.
Toronto leads the series with 307 hits, 52 more than Boston, who sits at 255 hits. Combined, both teams have thrown 562 hits in six games. The Maple Leafs (74) and Bruins (63) had 137 hits altogether in Game 3.
But amid the physicality and the mind games, Toronto's been a team that has discovered more and more about themselves as the series continues.
"I think we've seen tremendous growth in our team in these last couple of games. It's not just our team. We've got a lot of new players here that weren't here in the past. We already talked about Mitch and John and these guys, and Willy the way that he competed defensively last night. It's hard to win in the playoffs," Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said during the team's media availability on Friday.
"You've got to commit to it every shift and every single game, not just how hard it is but how you need to play, what's required, how you need to adjust to the game and not always feel like you're going to be in control to be able to dictate the terms, but sometimes the opposition is going to have its say and you've got to be able to adapt and adjust to that. I really have seen tremendous growth."
Some counted the Maple Leafs out after their loss at home in Game 4, and how couldn't you? It looked like the end was coming, especially when you put together the bickering on the bench between their top players and the feeling in the air after the game.
However, as we've seen now, and throughout the season, when Toronto is down and out, that's when they play their best hockey. Even when key players, like Auston Matthews, are out of the lineup, the Maple Leafs find a way to win.
"We've been talking our way through it. I liked our games in game one and two. I thought our process was really good. We didn't get the result in game one. We did in game two. And then you're very disappointed with how the team responds coming back on home ice in three and four, yet then challenge again, and then they buy into it and get good results. I think you see tremendous growth in that," Keefe added.
"Yeah, it is extremely hard. It is extremely tiring. You need depth. I don't think there's enough appreciation for just how difficult it is. When you come off in the playoffs of how intense it is out there, when our players come back to the bench, they're exhausted. So you need depth. You've got to be able to trust your third and fourth lines. They have to be able to give you shifts.
"At times it's not going to be ideal matchups, but you've got to go out and they've got to do the job for you, and they have. So I think that's allowed us to use our bench, keep everybody as fresh as possible to be able to dig into the tank and lay it out there. That's what's required at this time of year. To me there's been slow progress for this team in the playoffs year over year over year, and then even in this series, slow progress. But progress certainly is there."
This series, whichever way it goes, has felt like a long and gruelling playoff run. But it's what it takes to get to the ultimate goal. Game 7 will be touted as the survival of the fittest.
The winner gets the Florida Panthers in Round 2.
"I believe mentally we're as prepared as you possibly can be for a game seven. Now we've got to go out and execute," Keefe stated on Friday.
"That's a very good team that for the first time is going to be as desperate as we are. So, again, we haven't accomplished anything other than an opportunity to continue to build our game and show how we've grown."
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