Tomase: Bruins aren’t going to choke again vs. Leafs, and here’s why
Game 5 takeaways: Leafs avoid elimination with OT win vs. Bruins
Toronto isn’t like Florida, but the Panthers, seeded eighth, proved themselves to be formidable. They dominated their conference before losing to the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final. This season, they repeated their success with 110 points and clinched a division title.
The Leafs had an okay performance. They managed to score frequently, but their goaltending and penalty kill were subpar, especially towards the end. Unlike the Panthers, who strengthened their team with key additions like Sam Bennett and Anthony Duclair, the Leafs have been losing players instead of gaining them.
Top scorers Auston Matthews and William Nylander combined to miss one game all season, and they’ve already been sidelined for four (three for Nylander, one for Matthews) in this series. Nylander remains scoreless.
Matthews has battled illness and a mystery ailment, because hockey makes Bill Belichick look gossipy when it comes to injuries; only after the season ends do we get a news dump of the various broken ribs, fractured vertebrae, and lacerated kidneys theretofore classified as “upper body.”
The playoffs are about horses. The Leafs certainly outworked the Bruins in Game 5, and that’s a problem, but they’ve struggled to generate offense for most of the series without a healthy Matthews, the league’s first 69-goal scorer since Mario Lemieux.
Even if they do rediscover their scoring touch, we haven’t even mentioned the biggest X-factor, which is goaltending.
Jeremy Swayman explains why he has confidence in the Bruins going into Game 6 in Toronto
A year ago, Linus Ullmark appeared to be playing on one leg, and shame on Montgomery for sticking with him as long as he did. The Bruins surrendered 11 goals to Florida in Games 5 and 6 before Montgomery finally gave Swayman a start, and no pressure, kid, but please go out there cold and win us Game 7.
This time around, Swayman looks like the best goalie in the world. He stoned the Leafs repeatedly on Tuesday, losing to them for the first time all year. He still hasn’t allowed Toronto to score more than two goals in that span. He’s not a candidate to collapse like Ullmark did, and while Boston College product Joseph Woll played a lot better in Game 5 than Toronto starter Ilya Samsonov had in Games 1-4, we’re still talking a goalie with only three playoff starts to his name.
Advantage, Bruins.
So to recap, the Leafs are choking dogs with injured stars who have only escaped the first round once in the last 20 years. If they lose again, coach Sheldon Keefe will almost certainly be fired, so there’s a head man on the hot seat, too, although I suppose the same could be said of Bruins counterpart Jim Montgomery.
This isn’t a team I’d worry about winning three consecutive games, even if two are in Boston. The Bruins must step up in Game 6, skate confidently, and shake off any fear of failure.
Remember, they’re playing against the Leafs, so don’t panic. I may not know every player perfectly, but I know enough to say this confidently.