2002 Playoffs
Round 1 Leafs beat Islanders 4 games to 3.
Round 2 Leafs beat Ottawa also 4 games to 3.
Round 3 Leafs vs. Carolina
We all knew that the winner of this series would lose to Detroit, but that it is beside the point. Leafs really should have won this series. They lost 4 2 with three games going to OT. Leafs lost all three OT games. Carolina had the home game advantage.
Games 1 and 2
The first two games in Carolina were split. Each team won 2-1. The second game won by Carolina was in OT.
Games 3 and 4
Oddly enough, Carolina won both games in TO, 2-1 in OT and 3-0 in game 4. That made the series 3 1 for the bad guys.
Game 5
Leafs won this one 1 0 to make the series 3 2.
Game 6
I know that you know what happened. Leafs lost in OT 2-1 to end their season. Carolina got blown out by the Red Wings 4 1 as likely would have happened to the Leafs.
Tomas Kaberle, usually an excellent player, gives the puck away to O’Neill for goal one at the mid-point of period 3. (1:32) ughh
Miraculously, Leafs tie the game as Matts Sundin scores with 20 seconds left ! (1:53) Looks like Leafs are ordained by a higher power.
Regrettably, the devil was in charge. (2:09) It hurts much more when it is so close.
As unbelievable as this may sound, this was the last time Leafs were even close to advancing to the Stanley Cup finals. This was 2002. Make that, well, you do the math.