“It just s**ks,” Lightning left feeling ‘empty’ as Leafs celebrate 1st-round playoff win since 2004, NHL Twitter reacts
The Leafs’ vs Lightning playoff thriller ends following a 2-1 OT win as Toronto celebrates their 1st-round playoff win in decades.
Follow Us
Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate win [Image Credit: The NY Times]
Toronto Maple Leafs end their 19 years drought following 1st-round playoff win against Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1. The team won in an overtime thriller as Bolts attacks were rendered useless, marking the Leafs’ 2-1 victory.
The 7-year curse defined by Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner is finally over as Leafs advance to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tavares scored the franchise-altering goal in OT to eliminate the 3-time conference champions.
Downtown Toronto was in total mayhem as fans blocked traffic to celebrate the win in decades. Maple Leafs’ name was heard shouting for every corner of the roads as fireworks lightened up the sky. Truthfully though, the fans have every right to celebrate the win they tasted since back in 2004. The Leafs took over the series 4-2 over the Lightning to advance to their next stop.
Related: Twitterattis fume as Andrew Cogliano suffers fractured neck following a BRUTAL hit by Jordan Eberle
Fans gather in streets to celebrate Toronto Maple Leafs’ first playoff victory in decades
![Toronto Maple Leafs fans celebrate win [Image Credit: Twitter]](https://firstsportz.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Untitled-design-12-1024x768.png)
The Leafs will now face off against either Boston Bruins or Florida Panthers following the Game 7 winner of the best-of-7 series. From 2013 to 2022 the Leafs had 0 for 7 Stanley Cup playoff appearances, including their 1st-round, exits in the past 6 seasons.
Maple Leafs’ coach Sheldon Keefe said that it “felt different all season” so it’s a nice feeling to just sit up here now and confidently say “it is different”. When asked what’s different about this season, Morgan Rielly, the scorer of the victory goal in Game 3 said that it was a tough question to answer.
While John Tavares relished in every moment of their victory celebrations. Following his first playoff hat trick in Game 3, he delivered the winning goal at 4:35 on Saturday night in OT. Lightning coach Jon Cooper said that “It just sucks it was in a series against us”.
He admits that the Leafs are a good team and they would have surely broken their playoff drought against some team, but it just had to be them. The Lightning won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021 before getting eliminated by the reigning champions, the Colorado Avalanche in 6 games in the final round in 2022.
Cooper said that the team hasn’t lost in the Eastern Conference Playoff since 2019 so it’s difficult to be the person to sit on the “other side of this press conference”. “That’s why this is difficult”, the Bolts coach exclaimed. The Leafs blowing their leads in Game 3, and 4 came to haunt them in Game 7.
Tavares’ shot deflected off the skate of Lightning’s Darren Raddysh at 4:36 marking the end of the Bolts’ reign in the conference round win. Cooper confidently stated that the team’s hard work paid off and they played well enough to win the series.
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said that there were several missed opportunities where the team could have capitalized but failed to do so. Stamkos stated according to NHL.com, that if you lose three games at home in OT there’s rarely any chance to bounce back and win the series.
Bolts defenceman Victor Hedman said it all comes down to winning hockey games and the team failed to get their job done properly. The missed opportunities won’t be coming back, and this “empty feeling” is unlikely to go away any time soon. Especially to “come up short in the first round is not a good feeling.”
In case you missed:
Stay Updated!
Kaushani Chatterjee
(2140 Articles Published)