Demons and dreams: If the Maple Leafs are feeling the Game 7 heat, it doesn’t show

“The belief is high,” said veteran defenceman Morgan Rielly. “We believe in our group and our guys. We’re happy with what we’ve been able to do the last couple days, our games ... and we’re not thinking about previous Game 7s.”

This is, after all, the stuff of dreams.

“It’s what you think about when you’re younger,” said Rielly. “It’s got all the pressure of your season riding on it. You come together as a group and you just want to perform for one another. It’s challenging to deal with the mental approach, but I think that there’s beauty in that. It could be a lot of fun, so as a team we’re going to do what we need to do here. A very exciting time for us.”

While the Leafs earned some credit for winning a round last year, they haven’t won a Game 7 in some time. The last time was in 2004, with a Mats Sundin-captained team in the first round against the Ottawa Senators.

The Leafs lost to Boston in seven in 2013, with Dion Phaneuf as captain. The current Leafs core fell to the Bruins in seven in both 2018 and 2019. They also lost the series finale to the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2020 (in a pandemic-induced best-of-five), then dropped Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens in 2021 and the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2022.

“To me, there’s been slow progress for this team in the playoffs year over year over year. And then even in this series, slow progress,” said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe. “But progress certainly is there. I believe mentally we’re as prepared as you possibly can be for a Game 7. Now we’ve got to go out and execute.

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• Dec 31, 1969
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• Dec 31, 1969
• Comments

“That’s a very good (Boston) team that, for the first time, is going to be as desperate as we are. So again, we haven’t accomplished anything other than an opportunity to continue to build our game and show how we’ve grown.”

Part of what has created belief is the way they are winning: low-scoring, defence-first affairs.

When he emerged from the showers after Thursday night’s 2-1 win in Game 6 at Scotiabank Arena, Leafs forward Tyler Bertuzzi was asked how he felt.

“Tired,” he said. “That was a grind of a game.”

That’s a good sign. The Leafs have relied too often on their Core Four offence to get them through, but that’s not enough in the playoffs. And perhaps because they played without William Nylander for the first three games of the series, and now Matthews for the last two, they’ve learned what it takes to win in the post-season.

“I absolutely believe that,” said Keefe. “I think we’ve seen tremendous growth in our team in these last couple of games. It’s not just our team. We’ve got a lot of new players here that weren’t here in the past. It’s hard to win in the playoffs. You’ve got to commit to it every shift and every single game. It’s not just how hard it is, but it’s how you need to play, what’s required, how you need to adjust to the game. Sometimes the opposition is going to have its say, and you’ve got to be able to adapt and adjust to that.”

There’s very little that separates the teams. Boston’s power play connected early and Jeremy Swayman seemed unbeatable in the Bruins net. The Leafs have carried the play at even strength, however, and Joseph Woll has taken over as the best goalie in the series. The Leafs power play is in a terrible dry spell, but their penalty killing has kept things even lately.

Both teams are battling Game 7 demons. Last year, the Bruins blew a 3-1 series lead against the Florida Panthers, who await the winner of Saturday’s game.

“All bets are off in that regard,” said Rielly. “We’re two teams that are in a position where it’s a must-win game. I don’t think there’s any types of odds or favourites or whatever. Both teams are going to be competing hard, both teams have high expectations. I don’t think that there’s one team that’s dealing with more pressure than the other.”