The Toronto Maple Leafs have put an end to their first round playoff curse after a 19 year drought due to their overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The last time the Maple Leafs made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was in 2004 when they won the first round series (4-3) against the Ottawa Senators. The team is finally advancing to the second round this year after almost two decades of disappointment and misery.
The series has been nothing short of exciting and the matchup between the Leafs and the Lightning in game six was no exception. With both teams fighting to stay alive in the series, the stakes were high, and tensions were even higher. Both teams came out firing in the first period. Several scoring opportunities came from the Lightning but nothing was getting past the fantastic saves from Ilya Samsonov.
The rest of the first period saw both teams trading chances, but neither could convert. The second period was much of the same, with both teams playing solid defense and limiting each other’s scoring opportunities. In the second period Toronto’s offense was able to steer momentum in their favor with the first goal of the game from Auston Matthews, who has continued to impress with his scoring abilities all series. The game remained 1-0 for the leafs for the remainder of the second period.
The game really started to heat up in the third period when Tampa Bay put pressure on the leafs and answered back with a rebound goal from Steven Stamkos to tie up the game. Sending game six into overtime. With Toronto completing two overtime wins this series on Tampa Bay home ice, the team was prepared and knew exactly what they had to do. John Tavares skated out from behind the net, spun, and fired a shot at the Lightning’s net which deflected off the skate of Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh, scoring the game winning goal for Toronto at 4:36 in overtime.
The first round curse for the Toronto Maple Leafs is finally over with phenomenal execution from players like Mathhews, Tavares, and Samsonov, the Leafs are now advancing to the second round. The win definitely comes as a surprise as The Lightning had won 11 of their past 12 playoff series, winning the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 before losing in the Final to the Colorado Avalanche last season.
There is a lot in store for the Toronto Maple Leafs as they head into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and it will be the ultimate test for this team, its management, and organization.