Turn back the calendar to Saturday, April 14th. The Leafs were dominated for the second time losing to the Bruins 7-3. Everyone and everything was put into question. ‘Frederik Andersen doesn‘t show up in the playoffs,’ ‘Auston Matthews can’t find a higher gear’ and, ‘Is Mike Babcock the right coach?’, were some of my favourite headlines on Sunday morning.
The Leafs needed a response for Game 3 in Toronto, and they got one with a 4-2 win. Then came Game 4, the night where Twitter and Reddit went up in flames. There was absolutely no sense of optimism from a large portion of the fanbase.