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The Toronto Maple Leafs lost Game 7 to the Florida Panthers and are now eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After taking a 2-0 series lead, Toronto collapsed at home in Games 5 and 7. Now, Mitch Marner and John Tavares are unrestricted free agents, this could be the end of the Maple Leafs' Core Four era. Who is most to blame for the Maple Leafs losing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs again?
This series started with a brutal injury to Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz. Sam Bennett caught him with an elbow as he cut through the crease in Game 1. That knocked the goalie out of the entire series, putting Joseph Woll in the spotlight. Other than that, Toronto was healthy and had the horses to win the final game on Sunday.
But now, an era is over. There are a lot of Maple Leafs to blame for another playoff debacle.
Mitch Marner potentially ends his Maple Leafs days with a dud
In 2015, the Maple Leafs drafted Mitch Marner fourth overall in the NHL Draft. The next year, they took Auston Matthews first overall, which set their team up for a decade of success. But the playoffs have been a disaster for the forward, scoring just 13 goals in 70 career games. This year, he scored just twice in 13 games, including just once against the Panthers.
In the final four games of the series, Marner had just one assist and mustered only three shots on goal. He had a miserable turnover in Game 5 that led to a key goal and was mostly invisible in Game 7. Marner has been the scapegoat for many Leafs collapses in the past, and he is not absolved from this one. If this was his final game for his hometown team, it was another playoff stinker that embodies his career.
Auston Matthews needed to lead by example
Whether the Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup or not, Auston Matthews will go down as one of the best players in franchise history. He already has 400 regular-season goals and three Rocket Richard trophies as the league's goal leader. But it will all be lost if there is not more playoff success. Unlike Marner, he is signed for three more seasons and needs to figure out his springtime woes. After a three-goal playoff and only one goal against the Panthers, the spotlight is on him.
Last offseason, the Maple Leafs stripped John Tavares of the captaincy and gave it to Auston Matthews. Considering he is the face of the franchise and Tavares' contract was expiring, it made sense. Tavares had led the Leafs to just one playoff series win, so maybe a change in vice was going to change things up. While it was worth a shot, it did not work in this game.
After Game 7, Matthews said there were “too many passengers,” hockey lingo for “not enough effort.” Matthews was a -2 with two shots on goal in Game 7. It was a miserable game, and Matthews cannot be absolved.
A mixed bag for Joseph Woll
Woll was far from the biggest issue for the Maple Leafs in this series. He threw a shutout in Game 6 to force Game 7 and was spectacular in a Game 4 loss. Even early on Sunday, he stood tall as the Panthers fired the first 25 shot attempts at him. It was scoreless through one period largely because of Woll's greatness. But at the end of the day, Sergei Bobrovsky outdueled him.
The Maple Leafs saw Anthony Stolarz overtake Woll for the starting job during the season. But Woll is the goalie of the future at just 26 years old. The brutal Game 7 performance brought his career playoff save percentage down to .904, which is below where any goalie wants it to be. The Leafs need to build off his two excellent performances and forget about his two miserable ones to move forward.
Even if the Maple Leafs lose Marner and Tavares, they should expect to be back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs next year. If Woll can build on his good performances, maybe they can finally slay the beast. But with performances like Game 7, they won't get very far with Woll in the net.
