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The old saying “luck is the residue of design” is definitely applicable to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who advanced in the postseason for the first time in 19 years with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. The Leafs successfully sleighed their playoff demons, in part by getting some fortunate bounces (like John Tavares series clincher going off Darren Raddysh’s skate), but also because of the moves made by GM Kyle Dubas before the season and the trade deadline.
There is no ignoring that the core group performed up to expectations after years of being doubted they could. The “Core Five” of Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, Tavares, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly combined for 42 points in six games, including OT winners for Rielly in Game 3 and Tavares in Game 6, but what has been missing for more than a few years are effective veteran and young support players that can supplement the stars at key moments.
Ryan O’Reilly tied Game 3 late in regulation and his move to the third line after Game 1 gave the Leafs the quality depth and three effective forward units that Tampa had difficulty matching up with. Noel Acciari led the club with 42 hits and contributed on the penalty kill. Luke Schenn averaged more than 17 minutes and ended up being the perfect partner for Rielly, providing physicality and staying back on defense to allow the Leafs top blueliner to jump into the offensive attack more.
Jake McCabe was a dependable minutes-eater alongside TJ Brodie, averaging nearly 23 minutes per game and leading Leafs defensemen with 27:22 in Game 6, while rookie Matthew Knies was on the ice for all three overtime winners and found himself elevated into the top six with less than 10 games of professional experience.
Arguably the biggest factor in the Leafs advancing was the steady presence in goal from Ilya Samsonov. After a weak performance in Game 1, Samsonov was solid throughout, keeping Toronto close in Game 3 to enable them to rally late and win in overtime, and in the series decider he outgoaltended Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Toronto was overdue for the breaks going their way after so many years of losing when they should have won, and now in a year when things seem to be going their way, an even bigger break may have occurred on Sunday with the Florida Panthers upset of the Boston Bruins on Carter Verhaeghe’s overtime winner in Game 7.
If the Bruins had won, all we would have heard were references to 2013, 2018, and 2019 and the mental scar tissue of getting past the club that won the President’s Trophy and were going for one last kick at the can. Instead, we will hear about Mitch Marner’s old London Knights linemate Matthew Tkachuk and former Leaf draft pick Verhaeghe (who was traded by Lou Lamoriello in 2015 before ever playing a professional game).
Toronto will be favored in the second-round series and with Boston out of the way, it would appear the door is open for a deep playoff run, but the Leafs will have to be careful of being satisfied with breaking the 19-year drought when they have a chance to accomplish more.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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