Maple Leafs, Matthews frustrated after Game 7 loss to Bruins

BOSTON -- The bill of Auston Matthews' cap was pulled so low you could hardly see that his eyes were glazing over. The Toronto Maple Leafs center doesn't like to show his emotions at the best of times. And this certainly wasn't one of them.
Still, he couldn't hide his disappointment. A season of hope, a promise of taking that next step.

And then it was over, a third-period collapse sending the Maple Leafs home instead of to Tampa Bay for a series against the Lightning.
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The Maple Leafs had just lost 7-4 to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round on Wednesday, with the Bruins reaching the second round. Game 1 is at Tampa Bay on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVAS).
In the minds of Matthews and his teammates, it could have been them, maybe should have been them.
The Maple Leafs led 4-3 after 40 minutes and had shown plenty of composure. It was the Bruins who looked to be the nervous team, mishandling pucks, going offside and causing the raucous capacity crowd of 17,565 at TD Garden to grow restless.

All that changed in the final period.
"If you would have told us we'd have the lead in Boston going into the final [period] of Game 7, I think all of our players and our fans would have accepted that," coach Mike Babcock said.
"The moment was there for us. We didn't take advantage of it. And we're all responsible for that -- coaches, players, everyone."
Bruins center Patrice Bergeron started the comeback, winning a face-off in the Toronto zone that led to a Torey Krug snap shot to tie the game 4-4 just 70 seconds in.

As the crowd erupted, the shoulders of the Maple Leafs slumped en masse.
It would be the beginning of the end.
At 5:25, Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk skated past Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner and shot between the legs of goalie Frederik Andersen. Boston 5, Toronto 4.
How bad was it for the Maple Leafs? They didn't get their first shot of the third period until 8:00. By that time the Bruins had scored twice to go ahead.

David Pastrnak made it 6-4 at 11:39, and Brad Marchand scored into an empty net with 51 seconds remaining for a 7-4 advantage to send the Maple Leafs home wondering what might have been.
"They made a big push," Matthews said. "They got that [Krug] goal 4-on-4 and the atmosphere got going. Then they got the next one … and they capitalized on a couple of their chances.
"It's definitely frustrating. We wanted to keep it going. We had the opportunity tonight and we let it slip."

Matthews had two points (goal, assist) in the series. That ranks 104th in NHL playoff scoring. Nine Maple Leafs -- Mitchell Marner, Patrick Marleau, Morgan Rielly, James van Riemsdyk, Tomas Plekanec, Tyler Bozak, William Nylander, Zach Hyman and Connor Brown -- had more points than he did.
"I thought the first half of the series my play probably just wasn't good enough," Matthews said. "And then the second half of the series I had chances. I thought I did things right for the most part and couldn't capitalize on the opportunities. Sometimes that happens.
"It's frustrating, for sure. You always want to contribute on the scoresheet."
Even more frustrating for Toronto: An opportunity lost after establishing a record for regular-season points (105) and rallying to win Game 5 and Game 6 to tie the series 3-3.
"These are the moments we hope to be in in the future," Matthews said. "We have to find a way to make the most of it. We were in good position, up by one in the third, and a couple of mistakes cost us.
"They're at home, they have home-ice advantage, the crowd was buzzing, next thing you know there's two in the back of our net and we're chasing the game."
It was an all-too-familiar scenario for Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri.

Five years ago, the Maple Leafs surrendered a 4-1 lead in the third period in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference First Round against the Bruins in the same building. They would lose 5-4 in overtime on a Bergeron goal.
That was May 13, 2013.
Now another third-period collapse.
"We just have to learn from this," Kadri said. "They came hard at us. Give them credit."
The most telling stat: Teams scoring at least five goals in a Game 7 are 42-0 all-time.
When the horn sounded, social media out of Toronto blew up. The objects of the fans' wrath: Andersen and Gardiner.
"A lot of this game is on me," said Gardiner, who was minus-5. "And it's just not good enough, especially in a game like this.
"It's the most important game of the season, and I didn't show up."
He wasn't alone, especially in the third period.
Now they have all summer to ponder what might have been.