Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe doesn’t predict that will happen, but he feels his team will play with desperation. After all, he’s had plenty of practice doing exactly that.
“In my mind, we’ve just played two Game 7s,” Keefe said, referring to Toronto’s do-or-die victories in Games 5 and 6.
Note: They won those games without center Auston Matthews and scored 69 regular season goals. And, if the unexplained pain persists, they may do it again.
Matthews was on the ice for about four minutes in Toronto’s morning skate before Game 5 on Tuesday before deciding not to go. He skated by himself on the Maple Leafs practice pad at their facility on Wednesday and was working out at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday morning but did not play.
William Nylander.
If the Maple Leafs are to be successful, especially if Matthews can’t go again, they need to step up their senior players.
As captain John Tavares did in Game 5, Matthew Kinnis scored in Toronto’s 2-1 win against the Bruins in net.
And as Nylander did in Game 6.
The speedy wing, who missed the first three games with an undisclosed illness, has been scoring and moving for Toronto, shaking off the rustiness that seemed to have lingered over the previous two road games.
While Nylander hasn’t scored since March 26, he’s looking to make it big in the postseason, now holding off seven goals in his career.
“It was definitely nice to get on the board with two goals,” Nylander said. But I think the team effort, the way we fought and competed the whole 60 minutes, well, it was unbelievable for us as well.