Maple Leafs out due to Vasilevskiy brilliance, dormant power play

The Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round on Saturday.

Toronto set team records for wins (54) and points (115) and finished second in the Atlantic Division, five points ahead of the Lightning and seven behind the Presidents' Trophy-winning Florida Panthers. The Maple Leafs have qualified for the playoffs for five consecutive seasons after missing them in 10 of the previous 11.
The Maple Leafs have not won a playoff series since defeating the Ottawa Senators in Game 7 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. They are 0-9 in their past nine chances to eliminate an opponent since the beginning of the 2018 postseason and 0-6 in their past six series-deciding games.

The skinny

Potential unrestricted free agents:Ilya Mikheyev, F; Jason Spezza, F; Mark Giordano, D; Ilya Lyubushkin, D; Jack Campbell, G
Potential restricted free agents: Ondrej Kase, F; Pierre Engvall, F; Rasmus Sandin, D; Timothy Liljegren, D; Kristians Rubins, D
Potential 2022 Draft picks: 3
Here are five reasons the Maple Leafs were eliminated:

1. Andrei Vasilevskiy

Though Vasilevskiy's goals-against average (3.04) and save percentage (.897) were well below his NHL postseason career numbers (2.30 GAA, .922 save percentage), the Lightning goalie was good at the right times.
He was excellent in the first period of Game 2 when Toronto outshot Tampa Bay 13-9, allowing the Lightning to lead 1-0 after 20 minutes. At 1:26 of the second he made a glove save on Liljegren to keep Tampa Bay ahead. Corey Perry scored 55 seconds later to make it 2-0 and the Lightning never relinquished the lead, winning 5-3. In Game 6, Vasilevskiy made nine saves in overtime before Brayden Point scored at 18:04 for a 4-3 win.
In Game 7, Vasilevskiy made a blocker save on Auston Matthews at 16:21 of the second to keep it 1-1 and Nicholas Paul scored the eventual game-winning goal nine seconds later. He made two more saves, against Morgan Rielly and Spezza, in the final 2:20 of the third to preserve the lead.
Vasilevskiy is 6-0 in his past six series-clinching games with five shutouts and a combined 150 saves.
"I could tell early that he was dialed in more than any game in this series," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "He was seeing pucks and tracking them. If pucks were getting through guys laying out, he was there for us. He's a big reason why we won."

2. Missed chances

The Maple Leafs held a 3-2 lead to start the third period in Game 6 until costly high-sticking penalties on David Kampf and Alex Kerfoot 16 seconds apart led to Nikita Kucherov's game-tying goal on a 5-on-3 power play.
"I thought our guys pushed hard," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "I thought we played with confidence early. We were unable to capitalize on our chances that we had and then there wasn't a whole lot happening."

3. Powerless on the power play

The Maple Leafs led the NHL with the man-advantage at 27.3 percent during the regular season. It did not carry over into the playoffs, when they were 4-for-28 (14.3 percent), including 0-for-3 in Game 7.

4. Lack of killer instinct

The Maple Leafs won Games 1, 3, and 5 but never could pull ahead by two games. They trailed 3-0 in Game 4 at 7:58 of the first and 5-0 at 5:25 of the second, and were down 1-0 and outshot 12-6 after one period in Game 6.
"There are strides being made in the right direction," Rielly said. "We talked about the regular season and what we were able to do, but when the outcome is the same in the playoffs it makes it difficult. With time I think we will get a chance to think a little bit more clearly and try to find positives and try to find the areas that held us back. We're going to look to improve on those areas and look to become a team that is winning playoff series."

5. Bad draw

The Maple Leafs drew the Lightning, the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions.
Since the beginning of the 2020 playoffs, the Lightning are 17-0 following a loss.
Though the Maple Leafs went 15-3-2 after the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline on March 21, the Lightning were the most difficult opponent they could have drawn. Toronto lost 8-1 to Tampa Bay on April 21, the final game between the teams during the regular season.