About a week ago, \the Toronto Maple Leafs’ season looked to be over heading into Game 5. In Maple Leafs fashion, they hung on, coming away victorious in Games 5 and 6, ultimately setting up Game 7 tonight, inside TD Garden, for the third time in the Matthews, Marner, Nylander era.
Toronto entered Game 1 without their second-highest goal-scorer and point leader, William Nylander, after missing the first three games. Then, Auston Matthews, the 2024 Rocket Richard winner, left at the end of the second period of Game 4, never returned and has since been sidelined. After starting Ilya Samsonov for the first four games of the series, Sheldon Keefe put Joseph Woll in relief in the third period in Game 4 and has stuck with the kid. Through all the missing games and switching goalies to go along with the putrid power play that has somehow managed to go 1-for-20 through six games, Toronto has found themselves in Game 7, with a chance to rewrite the narrative of the past teams that couldn’t get the job done.
This core group of Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Rielly, and Tavares have gone 0-3 in Game 7’s, with the first four players going 0-4 since 2018, a season before Tavares joined the team in the summer. But the franchise hasn’t won a Game 7 since 2004, the same year the Maple Leafs last won a playoff round before last year when they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games.
Whether you think this year’s team is truthfully different from the past, the same Game 7 demons hang over this group until they ultimately get the job done. But those demons aren’t just over one side heading into tonight. Boston, who finished with the most wins and points in a season in NHL history a year ago, choked a 3-1 series lead to Florida last year, losing game 7 in their arena. After Toronto won Games 5 and 6, it’s safe to say the Bruins might be thinking about demons along with the Maple Leafs.
But focusing on Toronto for tonight, they can do something special. A little over a year ago, as mentioned above, they exercised their first-round demons by coming away with a series-clinching game in Game 6 on the road. They can do the same with their Game 7 demons tonight in Boston. It’s only fitting to finish the job in Game 7 after all of these years. You can read more about William Nylander and the rest of this core changing the narrative of the past eight years in tonight’s Game 7 preview here, by Arun Srinivasan.
Pregame details:
Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup:
Tyler Bertuzzi – Max Domi – Mitch Marner
Matthew Knies – John Tavares – William Nylander
Nick Robertson – Pontus Holmberg – Noah Gregor
Connor Dewar – David Kampf – Calle Jarnkrok
Morgan Rielly – Ilya Lyubushkin
Simon Benoit – Jake McCabe
Joel Edmundson – Timothy Liljegren
One lineup note: After missing Games 5 and 6, Auston Matthews was seen on the ice again earlier today with his team skating. However, his status for tonight’s game remains undecided, but it is likely heading towards another game missed for the 26-year-old. Bobby McMann was also on the ice but has been confirmed as out for tonight’s Game 7.
Sheldon Keefe on the status of Auston Matthews:
“As of right now, we’re proceeding as we’ve been.”
Sure sounds like the Leafs centre will miss Game 7 tonight @TSN_Edge
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) May 4, 2024
Boston Bruins’ lineup:
Jake DeBrusk – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand – Charlie Coyle – Morgan Geekie
James van Riemsdyk – Trent Frederic – Justin Brazeau
John Beecher – Jesper Boqvist – Pat Maroon
Mason Lohrei – Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm – Brandon Carlo
Parker Wotherspoon – Kevin Shattenkirk
Projected goalies:
Joseph Woll (TOR) vs Jeremy Swayman (BOS)
Broadcast:
Sportsnet, 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT
(Projected lineups from dailyfaceoff.com)
