Author: dqh

 

The Philadelphia Flyers finished as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with 107 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference with 98 points. This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with Philadelphia winning three of the previous four series. They last met in the 1999 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, which Toronto won in six games. The teams split this year’s four game regular season series.

The Flyers defeated the Maple Leafs in seven games. In game one, Alexander Mogilny scored a hat trick to give Toronto a 5–3 victory.^[17] The Flyers responded to the loss with a 4–1 win in game two with John LeClair, Mark Recchi, and Simon Gagne all contributing a goal and an assist.^[18] In game three, Toronto came back from an early two-goal deficit to win the game in double overtime on a goal by Tomas Kaberle, his second of the game.^[19] Game four showcased a triple overtime game in which Philadelphia nearly doubled the shots Toronto took. On the 75th shot for the Flyers, at 13:54 of the third overtime Mark Recchi scored his second goal of the game to help the Flyers take a 3–2 win.^[20] Sami Kapanen scored two power play goals in game five to assist the Flyers in a 4–1 win and took a 3–2 series lead.^[21] In game six, Ed Belfour helped Toronto force a seventh game with 35 saves in a double overtime 2–1 victory.^[22] The Flyers routed the Maple Leafs in game seven 6–1 with Mark Recchi scoring two goals and an assist and Justin Williams and Claude Lapointe both scoring a goal and two assists.^[23]

2004 Round 1 and yes Round 2

Contrary to modern Leafs’ fan expectations, the Stanley Cup series actually has more than one round. Leafs beat Ottawa 4 games to 3 in Round 1, only to lose in Round 2 to Phillie 4-2. This, as unimaginable as this could be, was the last time Leafs won one, as in ONE, round of the playoffs.

2017 Round 1 Washington

The Washington Capitals earned the Presidents’ Trophy for the second consecutive year as the NHL’s best regular season team this time with 118 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished much further down the list, squeaking into the playoffs with 95 points as the second wild and last wild car. No one gave the Leafs much of a hope.

The series became only the third playoff series in NHL history in which five games were decided in overtime.

In game 1, Toronto had a two-goal lead in the first ten minutes of the first game. Washington went on to tie the game and won 3–2 in overtime from Tom Wilson‘s goal.

In game 2, rookie Kasperi Kapanen scored twice including the game-winner in double-overtime leading the Maple Leafs to a 4–3 victory.

Washington took two two-goal leads in game three; the first pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Auston Matthews, helped soften the lead with his first playoff goal, but after the Capitals got a 3–1 lead, the Maple Leafs scored twice to tie the game. Then in overtime, Tyler Bozak tipped a shot past the Capitals’ goaltender to give the Leafs a 2–1 series lead.

Game four was the only game of the series not to go into overtime; Tom Wilson and T. J. Oshie both scored two goals and Oshie’s second goal proved to be the game-winner in a 5–4 victory after an attempted comeback by Toronto was thwarted.

Game five featured the fourth overtime game of this series with Justin Williams scoring for Capitals in a 2–1, taking a 3–2 series lead in the process.

In game six, the game went to overtime for the fifth time this series and at 6:31 of the first overtime period Marcus Johansson scored his second goal for the Capitals in a 2–1 victory and another trip to the second round.

 

2018 Round 1 Boston

The Boston Bruins finished second in the Atlantic Division earning 112 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs earned 105 points to finish third in the Atlantic Division. Toronto won three of the four games in this year’s regular season series.

The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in seven games.

Tuukka Rask made 26 saves for the Bruins in game one, winning the game 5–1.^[ During the game, Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri was given a five-minute major for a charging penalty for his hit on Tommy Wingels; he would later be suspended for three games. This is eerily similar to Kadri’s performance in the following year. He is a good player but completely out of control.

In game 2, David Pastrnak had a hat trick and three assists in a 7–3 victory for the Bruins in game two, becoming the first player since Claude Giroux in 2012 to score a hat trick and three assists.^[16]

In game three, Patrick Marleau scored twice for the Maple Leafs in a 4–2 victory.

Game 4 went to the Bruins, 3-1, giving them also a series lead of 3-1.

In game five, Toronto prevented a come-back by Boston, fending off the Bruins 4–3 as Frederik Andersen made 42 saves for the Maple Leafs.^[19] Nikita Zaitsev assisted twice in a 3–1 Maple Leafs victory, forcing a seventh game in the series.

Where have we seen this before? Game 7 in Boston, In game seven, Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron scored a goal and recorded two assists in a 7–4 victory to advance his team to the second round.^[21]

 

 

The Boston Bruins finished second in the Atlantic Division, earning 107 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs earned 100 points to finish third in the Atlantic Division. This was the sixteenth playoff meeting overall, and second consecutive, between these two teams, with Toronto winning eight of the fifteen previous series. They last met in the previous year’s Eastern Conference First Round, which Boston won in seven games. Boston won three of the four games in this year’s regular season series.

The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in seven games. Mitch Marner scored twice in Toronto’s game one victory, the final score of which was 4–1.^[9] Game two saw controversy in officiating, with Bruins players becoming more physical, to the point where Boston forward Jake DeBrusk collided with Toronto forward Nazem Kadri, who was skating hard out of the penalty box, resulting in a knee-on-knee collision, injuring the Maple Leafs forward.^[10] No penalty was called on the play. Kadri would return to the game, but retaliated against DeBrusk, cross-checking the forward in the head, resulting in a major penalty for the Toronto forward.^[11] Kadri was suspended for the remainder of the series.^[12] The Bruins ended the game 4–1.^[13] In game three, Auston Matthews and Andreas Johnsson scored a goal and notched an assist, leading the Maple Leafs to a 3–2 victory.^[14] In game four, the Bruins held on for a 6–4 victory, keeping the Maple Leafs from tying in the closing minutes after leading by three goals in the third period.^[15] The Maple Leafs scored twice in the third period of game five and held onto a one-goal lead late in the game to give Toronto a 2–1 victory and a 3–2 series lead.^[16] In game six, Brad Marchand had two goals and an assist in a 4–2 Bruins victory to push the series to a seventh game.^[17] In the seventh game, Boston goalie Tuukka Rask made 32 saves to defeat the Maple Leafs 5–1 and advance to the second round.^[18]