NHL playoffs 2018 Jake Gardiner Maple Leafs grapple with guilt of another blown Game 7

BOSTON Its all just a little bit of history repeating. Once again, the Maple Leafs helda lead over the Bruins in a Game 7.And once again, theyrethe ones going home. Just like 2013, the Bruins used four straight goals to eliminate the Leafs, at a raucous TD Garden.Torontos porous defense Anthony Mack Jersey finally caught up with them; they seemingly allowed chance after chance against a potent, deep Boston offense that was able to extend goaltender Frederik Andersens Game 7 misery to three straight lo ses. Bostons best players were their best players Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak each scored a goal while perhaps the moment was too big for the still-growing Leafs, especially while in their own zone. MORE: Jake Gardiner in particular was a minus-5, and while plus/minus is hardly to be used as a sole indication of a players performance, it seemed justified in this instance. He was the one at fault on Jake DeBrusk's eventual game-winning goal, a brutal end to a career season for the six-year veteran. This was not the way Sean Taylor Jersey we saw it going, Gardiner said, tearing up while speaking toreporters postgame.Personally, Ive got to be better.A lot of this game is on me.Its just not good enough, especially in a game like this.Its the most important game of the season, and I didnt show up. The buzz on Twitter was that Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner didnt either.Fair or unfair? That doesnt seem to matter for most fans. Marner had a huge series, and added an a sist on Wednesday to collect a team-high nine points (2-7-9) over the seven games played, but Matthews was largely quiet throughout, onlycontributing one goal and adding one a sist.In Game 7, he had four shots on goal but stayed off the scoresheet. Make no mistake about it, Marner and Matthews are the cornerstones of the franchise going forward, and, painful as it clearly was for the group as a whole in a pin-drop quiet Leafs locker room after the game, the lo s will be a building block for the young core going forward. GOLDEN STANDARD The team is on its way up, competing with the top teams, veteran defenseman Ron Hainseysaid. I think theres still a level this group can get to here, a little bit better.We showed some good stuff coming back after a terrible first two games in here, and we showed some good stuff to get back in the series to this point, but theres a little bit higher notch we have to get to up and down the roster in order to win a series like this against a top three, four, five team Dominic Proctor Jersey .Were on the edge of that theres a little bit more to get to, Id say. Those deficiencies are, largely, on the back end.Morgan Rielly showed incredible grit by coming back to the game after in the first period, and sure, Travis Dermott became the first rookie defenseman in Leafs history to score a Game 7 goal. But Toronto also became the first team in NHL history to blow two separate first-period leads in a Game 7, thanks in large part to a defensive core that simply wasnt good enough when it mattered the most. NHL DRAFT 2018: | Leafs forward Nazem Kadri was asked directly if he thought his team was good enough defensively to compete for the Stanley Cup thats now eluded the franchise for 50 years. Theres no doubt about it, absolutely, he said.Do we need some work and some tweaking?Of course.Everything needs organization and preparation, and we need more execution.Are we capable of Michael Irvin Jersey it?Absolutely.Do we need some work?For sure." The honeymoon phase is over for the still-growing Maple Leafs.Patching up the blue line will become a point of emphasis in the offseason, when prized free agents such asJohn Carlson could become available. Toronto isn't a team beyond repair; it's one with a bright future, still working through the growing pains. Another gutting one-and-done playoff performance doesn't change that. A third straight might, but those are questions for a later date. "We'll have lots of time to Willie Herenton Jersey look at those goals and get that figured out," Leafs coachMike Babcock said. "The bottom line is we went out for the third period and they scored and we didn't. Once they scored, they tilted the rink and I don't even know how many looks we had if we had any. "At the start of the series if you told me we were playing Boston and it would be like this and we'd be right here going into the third period, I would have taken that all day long."