The Toronto Maple Leafs in the Brendan Shanahan era have done one thing consistently, and that is losing in the most excruciating fashion. So, one has to ask, what would be the most painful thing for the Leafs to do to their fanbase after the 6-1 debacle in Game 5 on Wednesday?
Win Game 6 in Sunrise, FL on Friday to extend the series to a seventh and deciding game, just so they could stick the dagger in the back of their fans one more time. From a fan’s perspective, the hope has to be spared from getting disappointed once again, but they would take that risk if they thought this group genuinely had a chance to win.
But even the most sunny optimist in the GTA with Blue and White coursing through their veins is preparing themselves for the postseason dirt nap to begin around 11pm at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday night. That being said, the majority of the Leafs fans would still love to be proven wrong by the club that led 2-0 in this series just over a week ago, but for that to occur, they would have to show an intestinal fortitude we have yet not seen.
The most important thing for head coach Craig Berube to do is coax a start to Game 6 similar to the beginnings of Games 1 and 3, where the Leafs were shot out of a cannon and took an early lead. The first periods of Games 2, 4, and 5 started with no urgency. Toronto was able to bounce back in Game 2 with a power play goal late in the first from Max Pacioretty, but in the other two games, the best player in the opening 20 minutes was the guy who cannot score a goal, goaltender Joseph Woll.
It will be an absolute necessity for the Leafs to put the Panthers back on their heels with an early push and continue to apply the pressure. If the same thing occurs as in Game 5, where Toronto is tentative and allows itself to be pushed around, then the end is near.
Berube tried to mix things up in Game 5, inserting Nick Robertson and David Kampf in hopes of some fresh legs making a difference. It did not, so Toronto will go back to the lineup they used in the first four games. Pontus Holmberg and Calle Jarnkrok return for Game 6, with Holmberg slotted in on the left side with John Tavares and William Nylander, Jarnkrok playing the right side with fourth liners Steven Lorentz and Scott Laughton, and Pacioretty sliding down to the third line with Bobby McMann and Max Domi. However, the one thing that Berube is not doing is splitting up the top line of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
The Leafs line rushes on Friday morning had the tandem together alongside Matthew Knies. While it is possible they could get separated if Toronto does not generate any offense, Berube is prepared to go down with what brought him this far.
