Connor Brown and the Maple Leafs sent all the right messages ahead of Game 7 last year.
Toronto heads into the finale of a back-and-forth Eastern Conference quarterfinal with the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night with a firm belief. Ghosts of past playoff failures, however, still linger.
Up 3-2 in this year's first-round series, Toronto had a chance to finish Boston off in Game 6 at home on Sunday. The Leafs came out swinging, the Bruins responded, and kept their opponent at bay long enough to force another winner-take-all affair. Toronto has already won twice at TD Garden, including a disciplined, patient 2-1 victory in Game 5 where the Leafs had to wait until midway through the third period to break a 0-0 tie.
Toronto found some answers in neutralizing Boston on three opportunities in Game 5 and will need a similar effort in Game 7 as the franchise looks to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2004.The Leafs have a different look this time around following the free-agent acquisition of centre John Tavares, the trade for defenceman Jake Muzzin and the continued growth of Auston Matthews, who has five goals in his last four games, and Mitch Marner.
Boston has also made changes, but a battle-tested core remains the backbone of their lineup. Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask have won the Stanley Cup and been to another.
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