“It’s been a long road for a lot of our guys,” Keefe said. The Lightning responded with that 4-2 victory Thursday at Scotiabank Arena to stave off elimination before the Leafs finally sealed the deal Saturday. Toronto picked up a 7-2 victory two nights later before securing consecutive overtime wins in Tampa, including a 5-4 decision Monday after trailing 4-1 midway through the third period to build a 3-1 series lead. Tampa beat Toronto 7-3 in Game 1, but lost Erik Cernak to an illegal check to the head from Michael Bunting on a sequence that kept the minute-crunching defenceman sidelined the rest of the series. “Every single day just comes to the rink and he works his ass off.” “Don’t think I can say enough great things about Sammy,” Matthews said. Samsonov made a big stop on Stamkos early in a spirited first where the Leafs were under siege at times. Matthews bagged his series-leading fifth at 13:47 of the middle period for a 1-0 lead when he blasted a one-timer over Vasilevskiy’s shoulder. “But ultimately we want to keep playing and we want to keep pushing.”Ĭoming off Cup triumphs in 20 before falling in last year’s final to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 at home, the Lightning tied things 1-1 at 4:11 of the third when Stamkos scored his second on a rebound. “That’s great thing about our group - we’re looking forward to the challenges that are ahead. “You want to keep pushing for more,” said Rieilly, a black eye showing the price he paid in the series. Including a first-round defeat in 2013, Toronto’s record in games where it could clinch a series sat at 0-11 before puck drop - the second-longest streak in NHL history. “Knew we had the potential to do something special.” “We just kept believing in our group here, didn’t listen to anything outside,” said Marner, who sported a bloodied lip. Toronto entered Saturday with 10 straight losses in games where they had a chance to eliminate an opponent dating back to the start of the Matthews-Mitch Marner era, including a 4-2 loss in Game 5 this spring on home ice, in the process of stumbling at the post-season’s first hurdle six years running. “Long time coming for a lot of players in our room, long time coming for myself, even longer coming for Leafs Nation. “Long time coming,” Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said. The Leafs have seen 268 skaters, 33 goalies, seven coaches and six general managers pass through the doors since. The wait for another series triumph in hockey’s biggest market would last 6,948 days. Toronto would go on to lose a second-round matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers when Jeremy Roenick scored the clinching goal in overtime of Game 6. Joe Nieuwendyk was the hero that night with two goals on a shaky Patrick Lalime. Toronto last made the NHL’s final eight in 2004 - before the league introduced a salary cap, before Twitter was launched, and just over four months after Paul Martin became Canada’s 21st prime minister - when they beat the Ottawa Senators in seven games. “At some point they were going to get a break,” he added of the Leafs.
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