The most recent time the Maple Leafs were in Amalie Arena for the NHL playoffs, they were less than 11 minutes from ending their string of first-round failures.
“I think (last year’s close call at Amalie) helps,” said coach Sheldon Keefe as the club headed for the airport on Friday. “But each season is a different experience. We’re going into this in a different spot. Last time (Game 3 in May of 2022) we were coming off a loss on home ice, so these are the different emotions you are managing.”
“We have to continue to get better, knowing it will get harder,” Keefe said. “We’re in a best-of-five series now and we don’t have home ice. You’re just hoping your group continues to rise.”
The anticipated hostile environment in Amalie, without their customary travelling support group of fans, shouldn’t overwhelm the Leafs. There, and in Washington and Boston (where Toronto could go next if it gets through this series) the Leafs’ record is 4-8 in the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner post-season era.
Three of those defeats were in extra time.
“Our guys have dealt with the road a lot,” Aston-Reese said, recounting video he saw of John Tavares’ highly charged return to Long Island in 2019. The current captain was burned in effigy by New York zealots who felt snubbed by his decision to leave.
“That was crazy. But these guys are professional about (not being intimidated),” Aston-Reese said. “You’ve got to expect their building will be rockin’. We got smacked in Game 1 and they come out and do the same thing. You’ve got to expect they’ll respond.”
The Lightning, meanwhile, hopes to have injured defencemen Victor Hedman and Erik Cernak returning for Saturday or Monday after both missed Game 2 with injuries.
Kucherov, Point and Paul are all still very much part of a team that has been to three straight Stanley Cup finals.
“You look at last year’s (first two games), a bit of a roller-coaster,” said Matthews. “It was a great response from our group last night. Now the hardest part is going out there and doing it again.”
The Leafs scored two power-play goals in Game 2, giving them four in the series to match last year’s entire seven-game output. Just as noteworthy, they cashed a 6-on-5 delayed penalty which Matthews acknowledged was tricky to organize in the midst of a line change, recovering the initial shot that went wide with Ilya Samsonov rushing to the bench.
“That was a big goal, something we’ve tried to worked on and capitalize,” said Matthews of adapting to an odd-man situation without a faceoff. “It’s a chess match, taking what’s given to you.”
LOOSE LEAFS
The Leafs, who are also attempting to take their first series since 2004, have lost the first game in six of those eight matchups … After Thursday’s result, Toronto’s combined record following a loss this season is 25-5-3, outscoring opponents 126-73 … Who had money on rookie Matthew Knies getting more penalty minutes in his first Leafs/NHL playoff game than rogues Tiger Williams, Wendel Clark, Bob McGill or Tie Domi? Knies was called for two minor penalties — a hook and a slash.
