Have the Toronto Maple Leafs already quit on their season?

Credit: Apr 27, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) scores a goal and celebrates with left wing James van Riemsdyk (21) against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period in game four of the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY

Do you believe in the power of vibes?

The right ones appeared to be in place for the Toronto Maple Leafs when the puck dropped for Game 4 between them and Boston Bruins Saturday at Scotiabank Arena. Everything was in place for Toronto to show its backbone.

William Nylander, the Leafs’ second leading scorer in the regular season, glided around the ice in warmups, finally ready to return from his migraine problem and compete for the first time this postseason. Minutes before game time, the big screen paid tribute to legendary broadcaster Bob Cole, the man who called the deepest Leaf playoff runs in the expansion era and passed away Thursday at 90. A Canadian team giving a spirited effort in his honor would’ve felt appropriate.

The Scotiabank Arena faithful, called out on social media for a fickle showing in Game 3, seemed ready to lift up their team Saturday as the Leafs attempted to even their series with the Bruins 2-2. “Willie!” chants surged the first time No. 88 took a shift. The crowd popped when it spotted too many Bruins on the ice before the officials did and helped the Leafs nab an early power play.

But a fan base as beaten down and jaded as Toronto’s can only keep its decibel level humming for so long. Eventually, you need to give them something, anything to cheer about. The Leafs failed that assignment in Game 4.

They had two 5-on-5 scoring chances in the first period. Their most dangerous setup came from…enforcer Ryan Reaves, whose failed defensive-zone clearing attempt gifted James Van Riemsdyk with a 1-on-1 look at Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov, which ‘JVR’ converted to put Boston up 1-0.

The Leafs’ second period was somehow even flatter than the first. The Bruins scored on a power play for the sixth time this series as Brad Marchand one-timed a Charlie Coyle feed into an open cage with Samsonov way out of position. Frustrations boiled over, as the TV broadcast caught Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Nylander squabbling on the bench in the second period, with Nylander, according to the online lip readers, appearing to tell Marner, “Stop crying, this isn’t fucking junior.” The Bruins fully sicced the boo birds on the Leafs when David Pastrnak finished off a two-on-nothing with Marchand in the final minute of the second to put the Bruins ahead 3-0.

“We have a tremendous fan base [who] want to see us win and have success so badly, so you can’t blame them,” said Leafs captain John Tavares.

After Matthews didn’t come out for the third period, pulled from the game by the team doctor due to the unnamed illness continuing to afflict him, the Leafs finally felt a splash of cold water on their collective face. They came out in the third the way they should have in the first: attacking, aggressive, playing without the fear of a mistake. Marner, struggling all series, showed his regular-season poise in waiting out Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman for a pretty goal. Joseph Woll, seeing his first action of the series in relief of Samsonov, looked calm and smooth in goal.

But it was merely a half-period surge, deflated by an undisciplined offensive zone penalty by Nylander. That was the extent of the Leafs’ counterpunch in what might have been their final home game of the season, a mostly listless 3-1 defeat. For most of Game 4, the Leafs didn’t move their feet. They second guessed and doubled back rather than driving hard to the net. The second-highest scoring team in the 2023-24 regular season failed to score more than two goals for the 10th time in the past 11 playoff games, and its power play went 0 for 3, plunging to a woeful 1 for 14 in the series.

The Leafs, who have now lost six consecutive games on their home ice in the postseason dating back to last year, showed a dumbfounding lack of pushback on a night that should’ve brought out their most desperate selves.

So has this team quit? Blueliner Morgan Rielly insisted the Leafs “didn’t come out flat” in Game 4. Nylander claimed the bench infighting was because, “We expect a lot from each other and we love each other, so just to push each other, have a high ceiling, I think is great.” Coach Sheldon Keefe insisted he was satisfied with his team’s compete level in Game 4.

“Nothing wrong with our effort level tonight,” Keefe said. “Guys are competing. It’s physical hockey. Guys are trying. It’s a good team over there. It’s limiting us. You can question a lot of things – you can’t question the effort.”

Comments like those can be interpreted in two ways. Do they reflect a team that hasn’t lost its self-belief? Or a lack of accountability, a failure to get mad, about one of the more embarrassing home showings in the team’s recent playoff history?

The Leafs now find themselves on the brink, facing the challenge of rallying from a 3-1 deficit, which would include winning two games in the smothering road environment of TD Garden – against a Bruins team that has beaten them 10 times in their past 11 meetings dating back to last season. The last time Toronto came back to win a series after falling behind 3-1 was 82 years ago.

That 1941-42 Leaf team was actually down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final before eventually winning it all. It had pushback in spades. The 2023-24 edition has shown the pushback of a soggy paper towel. Will they discover theirs before it’s too late? If not, the franchise will soon stare down some seismic changes.

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Have the Toronto Maple Leafs already quit on their season?

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