Before the first game started, it was shockingly revealed that the Maple Leafs would be without one of their star forwards (the one with the most consistent history of playoff production) for Game 1. And then Game 2. And then Game 3. By the time they got him back in the lineup, their best player and one of the very best in the entire league mysteriously vanished due to illness, which turned into injury. Then he missed Game 5 and Game 6. Just as it’s announced that said player is returning for Game 7, the goalie who heroically led the team to back-to-back victories was shockingly ruled out for the deciding game.
After one playoff series victory eight years into the Matthews era, where do the Maple Leafs go from here?
