For the second time in the last five years, the Toronto Maple Leafs took a lead into the third period of a Game 7 against the Boston Bruins, and just as in their epic collapse in 2013, the Leafs were undone by shoddy defense and inconsistent goaltending in a 7-4 loss at TD Garden on Wednesday.
It also did not help that, in Game 7 and throughout the series, the Bruins top players were better than their Toronto counterparts.
The Bruins top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak ran roughshod over the Leafs in the deciding game, just as they did in the opening two games of the series, when they combined for 20 points.
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The Leafs were able to limit the trio to three points in Games 3 through 6, which allowed them to win three of four games and force a seventh game, but on Wednesday, they combined for seven points, including a goal and two assists by Bergeron.
Mitch Marner was the only one of the Leafs "big three" that was consistently an offensive threat during the series, leading the team with nine points. William Nylander found himself demoted to the fourth line and only starting making an impact on the score sheet in Game 6 and 7.
Auston Matthews led Toronto with 27 shots, but had only a goal and assist in seven games, drawing the checking of Bergeron and the Bruins top pairing of Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy for most of his shifts.
"The bottom line is the League is a real good league and when you're a real good player, you play against the best players who check you the hardest." Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. "They've got the scouting report on you, they work hard. That's just the way it is. Part of your growth process is learning to fight through that."
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The difference in an evenly matched series, though, was the Toronto defense, which was completely outmatched at times, slow and also unable to keep the Bruins from wreaking havoc around Frederik Andersen's crease. This was most noticeable on the road where, in the four games in Boston, the Leafs gave up 22 goals and went 1-3. Their only win at TD Garden came as a result of a Herculean effort by Andersen in the second half of Game 5.
While Chara began to show his age late in the series, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy had the luxury of having dependable blueliners to distribute major minutes to (McAvoy, Torey Krug and Kevan Miller all averaged over 20 minutes per game).
Babcock did not have that in his tool box. His top pairing of Ron Hainsey and Morgan Rielly were as reliable as they were during the regular season, but sophomore Nikita Zaitsev struggled and Jake Gardiner (who was tied with Rielly in defensive scoring during the regular season) registered only two assists in seven games and was again exposed as a defensive liability in Game 7, posting a minus-5 on the night.
"A lot of this game is on me, it’s just not good enough, especially in a game like this." an emotional Gardiner said. "It’s the most important game of the season, and I didn’t show up, so… there’s not much you can say really.”
Both Andersen and Tuukka Rask were not strong in the deciding game, but the Bruins superiority on defense -- and the excellence of their top line -- combined to cover for their goaltender on an average night. Andersen did not have that luxury. After allowing three Boston goals in the first, the Leafs goalie made a couple impressive stops that helped Toronto regain control and take the lead in the middle frame, but a long shot from Torey Krug and Jake DeBrusk’s game winner early in the third were shots that needed to be stopped.
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A second straight first-round exit for Toronto is a disappointing end to a franchise-record 105-point season, but it once again puts in focus the problem that needed to be addressed the last two years.
Even with the expected departure of leading goal scorer James van Riemsdyk and center Tyler Bozak in free agency this summer, Toronto has a wealth of young forwards at the NHL and AHL level -- a group GM Lou Lamoriello was unable or unwilling to deal from in order to bolster their blueline last summer and at the trade deadline.
For the Leafs to make that next step in their development and be able to move past teams like Boston and Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference, they will have to pay the price either in free agency or in a trade to upgrade on defense.