Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe wouldn’t predict if that will happen, but he does feel his team will play with desperation. After all, it has had plenty of practice doing exactly that.
“In my mind, we just played two Game 7s,” Keefe said, referring to Toronto’s do-or-die victories in Games 5 and 6.
Of note: They won those games without center Auston Matthews and his 69 regular-season goals in the lineup. And, if his undisclosed ailment continues to linger, they might have to do it again.
Matthews lasted about four minutes in Toronto’s morning skate prior to Game 5 on Tuesday before leaving the ice and deciding he was a no-go. He skated on his own on the Maple Leafs’ practice pad at their facility Wednesday and was out working at Scotiabank Arena Thursday monring but did not play.
Cue William Nylander.
If the Maple Leafs are to have success, especially if Matthews can’t go again, they need their top players to step up.
Like captain John Tavares did in Game 5, when his hard cut to the Bruins net resulted in a Matthew Knies overtime goal in Toronto’s 2-1 win.
And like Nylander did in Game 6.
The speedy wing, who missed the first three games of the series with an undisclosed ailment, scored both Toronto goals and was dynamic throughout, shedding the rust that seemed to be lingering in the previous two outings.
Though Nylander had not scored since March 26, he has a penchant of coming through in big moments during the postseason, having now accrued seven goals in elimination games in his career.
“It was nice to get on the board scoring two goals for sure,” Nylander said. “But I think the team effort, the way we battled and competed for the entire 60 minutes, well, that was incredible for us as well.”