Maple Leafs must create 'crack of doubt' in Panthers, Boucher says

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Toronto Maple Leafs have a daunting task ahead of them in attempting to become only the fifth team in NHL history to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

But not an impossible one.

So says former NHL goaltender Brian Boucher, now an analyst for ESPN.

He would know.

In 2010, Boucher was part of a Philadelphia Flyers team that lost the first three games in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Boston Bruins before reeling off four consecutive victories to advance. The key, he said, is not to look too far ahead.

"The most important thing is, you've just got to get one," he said in a phone interview Tuesday. "It makes no sense to look past that. It's a difficult enough task that you don't want to add more pressure on yourself. Get one and go from there.

"What happened for us is that (Bruins center) David Krejci got hurt in Game 4. It was like a double stroke of fortune for us. First, we'd just seen our opponent lose one of their most influential players; secondly, we won that fourth game, our first of the series, and it gave us momentum knowing one of their key cogs was out.

"It gave us momentum. And with every win you can get, it creates a crack of doubt in your opponent."

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That's exactly what the Maple Leafs will be looking for in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Second Round against the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS). Toronto has lost the first three games of the best-of-7 series and has absolutely no margin for error.

"For Toronto, being on the road, well, it just stokes the 'us-versus-the-world' mentality," Boucher said from Seattle, where he's covering the Seattle Kraken-Dallas Stars series in the Western Conference Second Round. "They have to focus on one thing: Winning the first period. Then, the second period, then the third period and the hockey game. When you do that, then you go home, and anything can happen.

"The trouble with these situations is, you often get guys who lose confidence or get frustrated. And that causes them to lose focus. And that's where the trouble starts."

Boucher said he believes the fact Joseph Woll will start is a positive, since he feels the rookie is the "best of Toronto's three goalies," a group that includes Ilya Samsonov, who's day to day with an upper body injury, and Matt Murray.

"I think he's a talented kid," Boucher said. "I think it's something they can rally around. I think it's a great thing. I think the team should have confidence in him."

Along with the 2010 Flyers, the only other teams to come back from a 3-0 deficit were the Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings in the 1942 Stanley Cup Final, the New York Islanders against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals, and the Los Angeles Kings against the San Jose Sharks in the 2014 Western Conference First Round.

For the Maple Leafs to have even the most remote chance of joining that group, they'll need their top players to be exactly that. So far, that hasn't been the case, as exemplified by the fact that forwards Mitch Marner, John Tavares, Auston Matthews and William Nylander have yet to score in the series.

"We're the leaders and we want to be the ones to step our foot forward and make sure we're doing that," Marner said Tuesday. "But I think everyone on this team wants to do that as well.

"We all know that we got a lot better to play, and especially us."