The Maple Leafs will attempt to extend the series without Auston Matthews, who will miss his second straight game on Thursday.
The Maple Leafs will attempt to extend the series without Auston Matthews, who will miss his second straight game on Thursday.
The Boston Bruins had a 3-1 series lead over the Florida Panthers in their first-round series last year and blew it.
And the Maple Leafs can do it to Boston again one season later with two more wins.
Entering Game 5, Toronto only had one win in the series. It was a commanding 3-2 win in Game 2, led by Auston Matthews who had one goal and two assists. They'll be without him again on Thursday night as he continues to recover from whatever he's been dealing with.
The Maple Leafs had their backs against the walls entering TD Garden on Tuesday for Game 5, and left with a win, potentially planting a seed of doubt in the Bruins' dressing room. And it was something Toronto's players talked about.
"Yeah, obviously, right when we got down 3-1, that was a topic we brought up. Just gave us momentum and some positivity that we needed. Anything can happen," Joel Edmundson said on Thursday ahead of Game 6.
"We knew it was gonna be a long series anyways, so doesn't really matter if we're getting down 3-1 or not. We're just gonna keep chipping away."
Edmundson has had his fair share of playoff battles over the years. The Maple Leafs acquired him because he is difficult to play against along with his Stanley Cup-winning experience with the St. Louis Blues.
The 30-year-old also knows something about being down 3-1 in a series. While Edmundson was with the Montreal Canadiens in 2021, they went down 3-1 to Toronto in the first round of the playoffs.
He, and the Canadiens, stormed back, won three straight, and eliminated the Maple Leafs in seven games. Montreal ended up going to the Stanley Cup final that year.
"It honestly just starts with one game. And you just build off that one game and keep it rolling. It's kind of exciting, you got nothing to lose," Edmundson recalled.
"So you just wanna put everything you got out there. There's no tomorrow if you lose. So just put everything on the line one night at a time."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfspnFKb-cY[/embed]
In the playoffs, teams like to spread the message that they're only focused on their play and what they can control. No one likes to admit that doubt could be creeping into the Bruins' room, but Boston head coach Jim Montgomery shared that the team has discussed what happened last year.
"We talked about it yesterday and we’ve moved on because we’ve grown from it," Montgomery said on Thursday via The Athletic's Chris Johnston.
The all-crucial Game 6 goes down inside Scotiabank Arena on Thursday night. The Bruins can close out the series with a win. The Maple Leafs can plant another seed of doubt in Boston's head if they defeat the Bruins.
Toronto hasn't won a playoff game at home since Game 2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning last spring. If there's any time for the Maple Leafs to get on track, it's inside their home building on Thursday against their arch-rivals.
Related
VIDEO: Auston Matthews Skates, Why Maple Leafs Star Will Not Play In Game 6 Against the Bruins
News from THN.com
NHL Announces 2024 Calder Trophy Finalists
NHL Playoffs Opinion: Why Has This Year's First Round Been Such a Dud?