Playoff hockey has almost always been about star hockey. That’s what you need to win. It isn’t complicated. It is rather obvious. From simmonssteve: It's about time for Matthews and Marner to be playoff great
For years, as Leaf playoff failure has morphed into Leaf playoff failure, the narrative about their problems has too often missed the point. There have been complaints about the team not being tough enough. There have been complaints about the team not being good enough defensively. There have been complaints about goaltending being a problem. There have been complaints about a lack of depth in the lineup, with too much salary tied up in four players.
The truth, more than anything else: They haven’t won because their best players haven’t been good enough when it mattered most. In a position to advance, they couldn’t close against Columbus, Boston, Montreal, against Tampa. In the 11 elimination games the Leafs have played over the past six seasons, the Leafs have scored 18 goals. Two of those games went to overtime. That’s 18 goals scored in an 11-plus playoff game with everything on the line.
In the last six years, 10 Maple Leafs games have wound up in overtime. TheLeafs have won three of those. Two of the overtime goals, aside from the one Matthews scored, went to Tyler Bozak and Kasperi Kapanen. That’s almost a lifetime ago. The newest Leaf hope, Ryan O’Reilly, is one of those rare NHL players who has scored more at playoff time than he has in the regular season. He has better playoff numbers than either Matthews or Marner while being 30 points behind during most regular seasons..That puts O’Reilly in a category for the coming series opposite Kucherov and Brayden Point from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kucherov, much like Matthews, is a career 93-point scorer in the season.
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