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‘Vibrant’ Maple Leafs hit the road with another chance to close out Lightning
TORONTO — Sheldon Keefe and his players were set to head to the airport and board a plane they would have preferred see stay on the tarmac.
The Maple Leafs had allowed a chance to close out the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first-round playoff series slip away less than 24 hours earlier.
Familiar themes kept Toronto from once again getting out from under a generation of post-season torment, along with a more-recent narrative of not being able to put away opponents on the ropes.
The Leafs dropped to 0-10 with the chance to send a team home for the summer in the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner era Thursday when the Lightning fought back from an early deficit and survived another late Toronto charge to pick up a 4-2 victory that forced Game 6 in the best-of-seven matchup.