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The Toronto Maple Leafs have a chance to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after pushing the Boston Bruins to Game 7 on Saturday with a 2-1 win in Game 6 on Thursday. The Leafs have rebounded from a 3-1 deficit to force a deciding game in a building where they have won twice, but all of that is out the window when it comes to Game 7.
For the fans and observers, the fourth deciding game at TD Garden in 11 seasons conjures up memories. 2013, the 4-1 lead (which no one needs to be reminded of) will live on forever as one of the low points in the club’s history, but forgotten slightly are the consecutive deciding games in 2018 and 2019 that the current core group played in.
The Leafs led 4-3 going into the third period and gave up four goals to lose 7-4 in 2018. The following year, Toronto fell behind early and trailed 2-1 going into the third, but gave up three goals in the third in a 5-1 loss. The last thing on the minds of these players is what -8 Jake Gardiner did, why Freddie Andersen could not stop Torey Krug’s long shot in 2018, why Nazem Kadri was so idiotic that he got suspended not once but twice against the Bruins, why Randy Carlyle kept putting out an exhausted Jay McClement and Nikolai Kulemin late in the game in 2013, or why James Reimer could not just make a save when his team needed it.
Even though a great deal of Leafs Nation will feel like this is the case, Toronto is not playing the ghosts of Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask, Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Zdeno Chara. On Saturday, the current club has to be concerned with stopping David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk, Brad Marchand, and Charlie McAvoy, who have killed them when it counts in the postseason.
Morgan Rielly, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander cannot be distracted by past crushing defeats, they will have to use them positively as motivation and look forward to perhaps their last chance of exorcising the demons and completing the comeback and beating the Bruins in their home barn.
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The news on Saturday was Auston Matthews participating fully at the morning skate for the first time since last Saturday prior to Game 4. Matthews did not stay out after practice for extra work, which would be an indicator that he would not be in the lineup, but Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe continues to be cautious with any projection of whether the Rocket Richard Trophy winner and Lady Byng nominee will be available.
Keefe said there has been no determination made if Matthews will suit up, but indicated that “as of right now, we’re proceeding as we’ve been”. According to Chris Johnston of the Athletic, Matthews was only out on the ice for 15 minutes and appeared limited physically.
If he is not inserted, it is likely that Keefe will go with the same lineup as in Game 6, with Noah Gregor playing on the fourth line instead of Ryan Reaves, and with Joseph Woll making his third straight start.
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