The Maple Leafs had an opportunity in Game 6 to close out their first-round series against the Lightning. However, Brayden Point had other ideas, potting the OT winner to force a Game 7 with a Lightning 4-3 win.
On Saturday, at home in front of a raucous crowd at Scotiabank Arena, they had another chance to eliminate the Lightning, but they failed to do so losing 2-1 in Game 7.
Another year, another heartbreak, another playoff failure for the Maple Leafs.
Toronto is now 0-10 in series-clinching games since 2018 and are still looking for a first-round series win, a feat that has not happened since 2004.
The Maple Leafs have been good for a number of seasons now, making it to the postseason six years in a row. However, it's now six straight first-round exits.
A loss in six games to the Capitals was followed by back-to-back losses to the Bruins in seven games. The Maple Leafs failed to get past the qualifying round in 2020, losing to the Blue Jackets before their epic crumble last year, blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Canadiens.
Toronto has heard all the jokes and comments. The team knew what was at stake and what lay ahead if the team failed yet again to advance — and as the buzzer sounded on Saturday, reality set in that the nightmare continues.
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When was the last time the Maple Leafs won a playoff series?
You have to go back to the 2004 playoffs to find the Maple Leafs' last postseason series win.
The Maple Leafs defeated the Senators in seven games in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. However, they fell to the Flyers in the Conference Semifinals in six games to end their season.
Toronto has had plenty of chances to win a series since then. Most famously, the Maple Leafs were up 4-1 in the third period of Game 7 against the Bruins in the first round of the 2011 playoffs. The team gave up three goals, including two in the final minute and a half, to force OT before Patrice Bergeron completed the comeback with the OT winner.
There also was the debacle mentioned before from last season, when the Maple Leafs had three games and needed just one more win to knock out their rivals from Montreal.
When was the last time the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup?
The last time a Maple Leafs team hoisted the Stanley Cup was in 1967. Dave Keon helped lead the team to the win, as Toronto took down rival Montreal in six games to grab the franchise its 13th Stanley Cup.
It's been all downhill from there. The Maple Leafs' drought of 54 seasons without a Stanley Cup is the longest streak in NHL history.
Not only that, but they have never even made it back to the Finals since then. Yikes.
MORE: Which team has won the most Stanley Cups?
Maple Leafs recent playoff history
Here is a look at the complete history of Toronto's postseason results during the salary cup era.
| SEASON | RESULT |
|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Lost in First Round (Lightning 4-3) |
| 2020-21 | Lost in First Round (Canadiens 4-3) |
| 2019-20 | Lost in Qualifying Round (Blue Jackets 3-2) |
| 2018-19 | Lost in First Round (Bruins 4-3) |
| 2017-18 | Lost in First Round (Bruins 4-3) |
| 2016-17 | Lost in First Round (Capitals 4-2) |
| 2015-16 | Did not qualify |
| 2014-15 | Did not qualify |
| 2013-14 | Did not qualify |
| 2012-13 | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals (Bruins 4-3) |
| 2011-12 | Did not qualify |
| 2010-11 | Did not qualify |
| 2009-10 | Did not qualify |
| 2008-09 | Did not qualify |
| 2007-08 | Did not qualify |
| 2006-07 | Did not qualify |
| 2005-06 | Did not qualify |
