Toronto Maple Leafs Hope To Exorcise Game 7 Ghost Against Bruins

The Toronto Maple Leafs must defeat a ghost from their past to win Game 7 against the Boston Bruins

The Toronto Maple Leafs will look to exorcise the ghost of a 4-1 blown lead when they take the ice in Game 7 against the Boston Bruins. It was only five years ago the Maple Leafs came back from a 3-1 series deficit to force Game 7 against the Bruins.

In the deciding game, Toronto held a 4-1 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the third period before blowing the lead. Boston went on to win in regulation, forever changing the Maple Leafs. It eventually led to their rebuild, which got them to where they are today.

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The loss has haunted the franchise as the Maple Leafs have been at the receiving end of a 4-1 lead jokes ever since. Now as the two teams find themselves in a similar situation. Only this time, Toronto has been down 3-1 in the series. By forcing a Game 7, the Maple Leafs can finally put the ghosts of the past to rest.

Although the two teams are significantly different compared to the Game 7 played in 2013, there are still plenty of remaining faces. Tyler Bozak, Jake Gardiner, James van Riemsdyk, Leo Komarov, and Nazem Kadri all played in the infamous Game 7 loss for the Toronto Maple Leafs. With the exception of Komarov due to injury, the other players have played a role in 2018 in helping to extend the series.

For Bozak and van Riemsdyk, a loss in Game 7 will likely be their final games wearing the blue and white. Both are unrestricted free agents and will likely receive bigger contracts elsewhere than the ones they’d be able to earn in Toronto. However, for both players, a win would allow their Maple Leaf careers to come full circle. They’ll have avenged the collapse that followed them around for so many years.

Gardiner was one of Toronto’s best players in the 2013 Boston series as the seven games series turned into a coming out party for the young defender. Unfortunately for him, he was also on the ice at the time of Patrice Bergeron’s overtime winning goal for the Bruins.

With only one point in the playoffs, Gardiner hasn’t been as offensively potent as in 2013 when he had five points. However, his defensive game has grown leaps and bounds. Toronto will need Gardiner to be as steady as ever to pull off the upset in Boston.

Finally, there’s Kadri, who some will point the finger to should the Maple Leafs lose as to being one of the major reasons why given his three-game suspension. Toronto has looked like an entirely different team with Kadri in the lineup as their ability to roll four lines effectively has been on full display. He’s picked up an assist in each game since his return only adding fuel to the fire of what could have been had he not gotten suspended.

Kadri was also the player who scored the infamous fourth goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs as the series felt, for a brief period, to be all wrapped up. Given that history and his recent history with the suspension, Kadri is set to play a key role in Game 7 only he’ll determine whether it’s positive or negative.

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It’s been five years since the 4-1 lead collapse and a lot has changed but a lot has also stayed the same. For the future development of the Toronto Maple Leafs, a victory over the Bruins could go a long way to signaling it’s a totally new era in Toronto.

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