Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m incredibly excited to be able to send SI:AM as an email newsletter again.
In today’s SI:AM:
⛈️ Thunder dominate Game 7
💰 Purdy gets paid
🪓 Orioles axe manager
Fresh start looming for the Leafs?
It’s often said that the two greatest words in sports are “Game 7.” Not for Toronto Maple Leafs fans.
The Leafs were bounced from the playoffs on Sunday by the Florida Panthers with a 6–1 defeat at home in Game 7. It was a crushing end to the season for a team that began the year with Stanley Cup aspirations, but the Leafs should be used to that by now.
“They were the better team tonight. They were the more desperate team tonight. They were the more aggressive team,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “You got to have a level of desperation, determination. And I didn’t feel we had it.”
With Sunday’s loss, Toronto has now lost more Game 7s than any other franchise in NHL history—a total of 16, breaking a tie with the Boston Bruins. But the Leafs’ recent history has been even worse. They’ve made the playoffs in nine straight seasons and been eliminated in a Game 7 in six of those years. No other franchise has lost more than four Game 7s over that span.
The Leafs haven’t won a Game 7 since 2004. They’ve lost seven Game 7 opportunities in a row, tied for the longest such streak in NHL history. (The Colorado Avalanche have an active streak of seven such losses.) But wait, it gets even worse. When you include Toronto’s loss in Game 5 of the best-of-five qualifying round in the 2020 playoffs, the Leafs have lost eight straight winner-take-all games, the second-longest streak in NHL history behind the New York Rangers (1934–87).
So Leafs fans are used to seeing their team lose in do-or-die situations, but Sunday’s loss was especially crushing. Toronto was never competitive, surrendering an astonishing 75 shot attempts in the first two periods, the most by any team this season. The Panthers broke the dam in the second period and poured it on in the third. Multiple fans threw their jerseys on the ice in disgust during play after Florida had put the game out of reach.
It was a familiar outcome for the Leafs, but it was also a familiar outcome for Panthers forward Brad Marchand. After playing his first 16 NHL seasons with the Bruins, Marchand was traded to the Panthers at the deadline this year, and he continued his playoff dominance over Toronto in the clinching game. Marchand assisted on two Florida goals and scored the empty-netter that sealed the Leafs’ fate. Marchand has appeared in 13 Game 7s in his career, more than any active player, and is 5–0 against the Leafs.
“I grew up a Leafs fan. I enjoy playing against the Leafs,” Marchand said after the game. “I enjoy interacting with fans. Like, it’s fun. It’s not something I’ll forever get to do.”
The loss places the Leafs at a crossroads as they begin the offseason with plenty of question marks. The biggest is how the team will replace Mitch Marner, who has been Toronto’s No. 2 offensive weapon alongside Auston Matthews for nearly a decade.
Marner’s contract is expiring and he will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. He doesn’t sound like he believes he’ll be back, either. After the loss, the Toronto native spoke in the past tense about his time with the franchise. Veteran John Tavares will also be a free agent after seven years centering Toronto’s second line.
However the Leafs choose to navigate the offseason, it appears a new boss will be calling the shots. Team president Brendan Shanahan’s contract is also expiring, and the Leafs aren’t expected to bring him back.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- In a battle of MVP candidates, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed he was the best player on the floor as the Thunder bounced the Denver Nuggets in a Game 7 battle, writes Chris Mannix.
- San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has officially cashed in on his rise from Mr. Irrelevant to the team’s franchise man. Albert Breer shares his takeaways on the new deal.
- Bob Harig at the PGA Championship captured how Jon Rahm believed he let the title slip away in what is considered his best major performance since moving to LIV Golf.
- PGA champion Scottie Scheffler, who won the title with a backup driver, calls for ‘more robust’ testing, writes Harig.
- Over the weekend, the Baltimore Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde, but Tom Verducci blames the franchise’s front office for the team’s shortcomings.
- New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso owns up to a costly error that led to the New York Yankees breaking open a tight game on Sunday night.
The top five…
… things I saw yesterday:
5. Two really tough saves by Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky early in Game 7.
4. Cal Quantrill’s immaculate inning.
3. The Thunder’s hounding defense late in the first half as they began to pull away in Game 7.
2. Cody Bellinger’s grand slam to blow open the Yankees’ win over the Mets.
1. Scottie Scheffler’s walk to the 18th green as he closed out his third career major championship.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Maple Leafs Make Dubious History With Latest Game 7 Failure .
