Leafs Collapse Once More as Montreal Canadiens Take Series in Seven

So, um, how about those Montreal Canadiens, eh?

After getting off to an impressive 7-2-1 start to a delayed and shortened 56-game 2020-21 season, Montreal began to falter and buckle once more in spite of some solid stretches here and there. With a 24-21-11 record heading into the post-season, the Montreal Canadiens barely squeaked into the playoffs past an inconsistency-riddled Calgary Flames squad.

Playoff birth aside, the Habs now found themselves with a tough task ahead in Round 1.

The Toronto Maple Leafs.

With a 35-14-7 record this season, the Leafs claimed the North Division title and were expected to make a deep playoff run following a four-year stretch of first-round losses, dating back to the 2016-17 season. Needless to say, Montreal was the underdog in this series. Sportsnet’s columnists didn’t believe in the Habs, much of the Montreal Gazette’s columnists didn’t believe in the Habs. Heck, even I didn’t believe in the Habs.

Well, safe to say, I believe in them now.

After falling behind three games to one against the Leafs, Montreal pulled out back-to-back overtime wins to force a Game 7. Surely, though, this will be where the Leafs step up, right? With a chance to end this first-round curse and earn their first playoff series win since 2004. What better way to do it than with a decisive Game 7 victory, right?

Well, as Brendan Gallagher’s flubbed shot off the wing found its way through Leafs’ goalie Jack “Soupy” Campbell’s five-hole early in the second period, a continuing and pervasive rhetoric echoed through the limited crowd of 550 frontline workers that filled the Air Canada Centre.

That the Leafs weren’t going to pull this one through.

After Gallagher got Montreal on the board with his first point of the series, Toronto simply never found a way to get back into the game. A Corey Perry deflection in front on a powerplay late in the second made it 2-0, and a Tyler Toffoli empty netter late in the third put the icing on the cake. Even with a William Nylander wrister in front making it a 3-1 game once more, the writing was already on the wall, the carving was etched in stone, the one that got away, well, got away, etc. etc. so on and so forth. In spite of three consecutive opportunities to finish this series, Toronto simply couldn’t do it.

Following a shaky and injury-riddled regular season that ended with a 12-7-5 record and 2.64 GAA, Canadiens goalie and franchise cornerstone Carey Price well and truly answered the call in this series, finishing with a 4-3-0 record, 2.24 GAA, and a sparkling .932 SVP. In Game 7, he looked unflappable in net, making clutch save after clutch save as the Leafs found themselves in an apparent state of shock as time winded down.

After being down 3 games to 1, the Montreal Canadiens have pulled off the first-round upset, with a 3-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7.

With this loss, Toronto’s stretch of first-round misery continues, and many of their veteran core playing on one-year deals have an uncertain future ahead of them. Long-time San Jose Sharks Captain Joe Thornton came to Toronto chasing a Stanley Cup that had long alluded him. Ditto Wayne Simmonds, and even to an extent, trade-deadline acquisition Nick Foligno. Well, with the Leafs’ season and Stanley Cup ambitions all but ousted now, much of these players remain unsure as to where they go from here.

Long-time Leafs’ starter Frederik Andersen found himself riding the bench in this series as Head Coach Sheldon Keefe opted to go with Campbell in goal. A former first-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2010, Campbell was, in my opinion, one of the NHL’s best feel-good stories this season, and a Bill Masterton favourite. With a 17-3-2 record, 2.15 GAA and 2 shutouts, Campbell similarly answered the call in this series, posting a 3-2-2 record with a brilliant 1.81 GAA and .934 SVP. Unfortunately, most of the Leafs’ top players simply couldn’t do the same.

Egotistical, Ben Chiarot-instigated smiles aside, Leafs’ franchise center Auston Matthews struggled heavily over the course of this series, posting 1-4-5 totals over seven games. Considering his over 60-goal pace of the regular season, it’s safe to say that the Canadiens were able to neutralize much of the Leafs’ offence quite effectively. Now the question turns to whether they can do the same when they pull into Manitoba to face the Winnipeg Jets in Round 2.

The Jets and the Canadiens had gone through quite the back-and-forth battle over the course of the regular season, which will doubtless continue as Montreal faces a potent and depth-filled Winnipeg offence. For the moment though, Canadiens fans, analysts, and players alike should simply revel in the fact of what has just happened. The Montreal Canadiens have beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in a seven-game first-round series. So, for the time being, enjoy the jokes, goofs, shock, and awe that come with all of that. While the Minnesota Wild came close against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Canadiens have officially given us the first true upset, of these Stanley Cup playoffs.

Better lookout, Winnipeg. Here come the Montreal Canadiens.