The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t won a playoff series since 2004 and tonight they will go at it with the Canadiens to decide who plays the Winnipeg Jets in the 2nd round of the playoffs. At one point in the series, Toronto was up 3-1 with a chance to finish things up at home and have since lossed 2 straight games in overtime. In both games, Montreal forfeited 2 goal leads in the 3rd period and eventually won both in OT. That is the first time that a team had ever won consecutive playoff games where they surrendered 2 goal leads in the 3rd period. Here is the game 5 OT goal from Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki…

And game 6 OT goal from Jesperi Kotkaniemi

So what’s at stake tonight?

The heart and soul of Toronto is the Maple Leafs and the fans have been so passionate over the past 15 years despite their losing ways. If Montreal ends up winning game 7, it’ll be a huge hit to the city of Toronto given how talented this year’s team is supposed to be. Toronto took a big hit in game 1 when John Tavares suffered a concussion during a nasty play that led to him being helped off the ice from trainers. Tavares was a 1st line player and he’s been difficult to replace for Toronto throughout the series. Here is the disgusting injury that ultimately led to him being out for the playoffs…

As a hockey fan, I’m rooting for a great game 7 tonight, but I’d like to see Toronto move on to round 2 given their recent struggles.