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Maple Leafs focused on their story, not existing scars in Game 7 vs. Bruins
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- Maple Leafs focused on their story, not existing scars in Game 7 vs. Bruins
BOSTON — What is history worth?
Or less imprecise: how much, if at all, will the Toronto Maple Leafs' tortuous past in Game 7s at TD Garden versus the Boston Bruins influence what happens when the postseason rivals meet again Tuesday night in a do-or-die scenario — this time to sort out who advances to the second round to meet the Columbus Blue Jackets ?
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An analytical mind would tell you that it doesn't matter one bit. Seeing it exclusively through the pragmatic lens determines that each game — even ones that exist to completely determine the success or failure of an entire season — will be played in a vacuum and remain totally isolated from the narratives that fans and media cling to in order to reconcile emotions or tell their stories.
On the flip side, a more emotional approach would argue that these types of games exist as more than simply simulation. In certain instances, outside factors — namely expectations, emotions, the absence of success and repeated failures — can add up and affect teams and players differently. These mental obstructions, like any other aspect contributing to the randomness of postseason hockey, can influence the outcome.
Whichever outlook chosen is up to the individual, but if the latter is true, and the pressure were to ever permeate through, wouldn't it be in this moment — with the Leafs back in Boston for a Game 7?
John Tavares will get his first taste of a Game 7 in Boston. (Getty Images)
The Maple Leafs need to win to avoid a third postseason exit across a seven-season stretch at the hands of the same team, in the same round, and inside the same building.
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For no reason more than that, a large segment of the Leafs fan population are having a harder time seeing this as opportunity instead of another doomsday scenario.
They waited nine seasons to see the team finally return to the playoffs back in 2013. Awaiting them then was the harshest form of correction in a lockout-shortened sample, as the team blew a 4-1 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the third period before inevitably losing in overtime. It was further torment in another Game 7 five years later when fans, with heightened expectations this time, were led to believe in a completely different Leafs team. And yet that iteration, too, blew a lead in the very same scenario.
Mostly every Leaf set to take on a meaningful role in Tuesday's game has some experience specific to the situation to draw on. Going the distance in consecutive springs, the Leafs and Bruins are meeting in the postseason for 14th time in a little over 53 weeks.
And that is the extent to which they will allow historical factors to influence their preparation.
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"We obviously want to get them back. You don't want to lose another one," Travis Dermott said, speaking exclusively to his experience when asked about being back in Boston for another Game 7.
"Every guy in here wants to do it for each other. The bragging rights are huge. You really don't want to lose another one, especially to these guys. We have had some really good battles against them so being able to win one would be huge for everyone in here."
A local kid, Dermott is hardly ignorant to Toronto's history of disappointment in big moments versus the Bruins that lives beyond last season.
But those scars don't belong to him.
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And they don't belong to John Tavares , either.
The Maple Leafs became a different team than the one that seemed overmatched last season (let alone the relic of a roster from six seasons ago) and re-imagined their own expectations when they signed Tavares as a free agent last summer.
Local too, but maybe further detached from it, Tavares knows even less than Dermott in terms of disappointment specific to the Leafs.
This potentially invaluable innocence, and the ability to look forward and not too far back, remains true for the entire Maple Leafs roster — save for one.
With Nazem Kadri suspended, Jake Gardiner is the only Leaf set to experience a third Game 7 versus the Bruins. On the ice when Patrice Bergeron scored the overtime winner in 2013 and a disastrous minus-five in the decider five years later, Gardiner is carrying enough baggage for the entire team alone. However, his influence (mainly due to injury) promises to be significantly diminished.
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There is history and there is pressure, no doubt. And the same dominant players from Boston remain after all these years. But these Leafs aren't willing to accept the baggage previous regimes left for them to inherit, and allow it to accumulate. There's no reason to.
These Leafs are ready to live in the moment, to apply learnings from last season, and to seize the opportunity some are failing to recognize.
They want to get back their loss.
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