The Toronto Maple Leafs’ game 5 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night was the 13th time the team has lost in closeout games during the Auston Matthews era.
Since 2018, the Toronto Maple Leafs have won just once in a series-clinching game. That win came in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs when the Leafs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games to capture their only series win of this era.
Besides the one series win, the Leafs have lost six different series when having the chance to advance.
Let’s start with 2018. The Leafs faced the Boston Bruins in the first round. Toronto came back to push the series to seven games but lost 7-4 after winning Games 5 and 6 to force a decisive seventh game.
The following season, the Maple Leafs held a 3-2 series lead over the Bruins. Boston won Games 6 and 7 to advance.
In 2020, the Toronto Maple Leafs held a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five qualifying round against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Jackets came back to win both games and advance to the first round of the playoffs. Perhaps the worst series loss came in 2021 when the Leafs held a 3-1 lead over the Montreal Canadiens in the bubble playoffs. The Habs won three straight to seal one of the most remarkable comebacks in NHL history.
The Leafs once again lost in seven in 2022, but to the Tampa Bay Lightning, who came back from a 3-2 deficit just like the Boston Bruins did.
Last season, the Leafs and Bruins went to a decisive Game 7 in which the Leafs played a valiant, gritty game, but lost in overtime on a David Pastrnak goal.
While Toronto has enjoyed success to varying degrees, closing out series seems to be the biggest hurdle the Leafs have yet to overcome.
Toronto Maple Leafs unable to sustain power play success
In the first three games of the series against Ottawa, the Toronto Maple Leafs went 5-for-9 with the man advantage. That dominant power play was a big reason why Toronto was able to rack up a commanding 3-0 series lead.
But in the last two games, the Leafs’ power play has fallen silent. To make matters worse, the Senators have scored two shorthanded goals in the series.
Craig Berube’s five-forward power play unit with Mitch Marner playing defense hasn’t worked very well of late. The Leafs found more success with Morgan Rielly quarterbacking the top unit and having another blue liner like Oliver Ekman-Larsson take over the point on the second unit.
While the Leafs have had their looks, it seems the Senators have figured out how to stop the Leafs’ strong power play. Moving forward, Toronto will need to get back to what made their power play lethal in order to close out the series and advance to the next round.
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Edited by Nestor Quixtan
