Maple Leafs eliminated, didn't overcome lack of scoring from star players

The Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Florida Panthers, losing 3-2 in overtime in Game 5 of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Second Round on Friday.

Toronto (50-21-11) was second in the Atlantic Division, 19 points ahead of the fourth place Panthers, who were the second wild card into the playoffs from the East. The Maple Leafs won their first postseason series in 19 years by eliminating the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the first round before coming up short against the Panthers.

The skinny

Potential unrestricted free agents: Ryan O'Reilly, F; Alex Kerfoot, F; David Kampf, F; Noel Acciari, F; Michael Bunting, F; Wayne Simmonds, F; Zach Aston-Reese; Luke Schenn, D; Erik Gustafsson, D; Jordie Benn, D; Justin Holl, D.

Potential restricted free agents: Ilya Samsonov, G; Victor Mete, D; Erik Kallgren, G.

Potential 2023 Draft Picks: 3

Here are five reasons the Maple Leafs were eliminated:

1. The Core Four needed to produce more

Forwards Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitchell Marner and William Nylander take up about half of the Maple Leafs salary cap. They are paid to score. And during the regular season, that's exactly what they did, combining for 146 goals. Then came the second round against the Florida Panthers, and all that changed. Nylander, who scored 40 goals during the regular season, had two in five games against the Panthers. Marner (30 regular season goals) had one. Matthews (40) and Tavares (36) didn't score at all. That can't happen for this team to be successful. Sure, it's a cliche, but your best players must be your best players if you want to succeed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they simply weren't. For the "Core Four" to combine for three goals against the Panthers was a recipe for the Maple Leafs to be eliminated, and that's exactly what happened.

RELATED: [Complete Maple Leafs vs Panthers series coverage]

2. Offensive offense

Core Four or no Core Four, the evaporation of the Maple Leafs offense was puzzling. Yes, Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was outstanding, but the Maple Leafs consistently misfired on their opportunities and it cost them in the end. Consider this: Toronto, which finished 11th during the regular season in goals scored (279), failed to score more than two in its final seven postseason games. David Kampf (none), Calle Jarnkrok (one) and Sam Lafferty (one) were Toronto's most effective forwards at times in terms of the forecheck but only combined for two goals in 11 playoff games. You need more depth scoring than that.

3. Home ice no advantage

Gaining home-ice advantage was a goal and motivation for the Maple Leafs late in the season. Be careful what you wish for. They ended up 1-5 at Scotiabank Arena in the playoffs, losing their final four games at home. That's a head-scratching statistic considering they were 27-8-6 at home during the regular season. Fan support aside, home ice means the host coach gets the benefit of making the last change. Judging by Toronto's poor postseason record at home, coach Sheldon Keefe had difficulty exploiting that advantage.

4. Blue line blues

Defenseman Morgan Rielly was Toronto's best player in the postseason and had 12 points (four goals, eight assists). He also finished the playoffs a team-high plus-11. The second-best defenseman for Toronto likely was Luke Schenn, the 33-year-old acquired from the Vancouver Canucks prior to the March 3 trade deadline. That's a good thing. And a bad thing. Good because it showed that general manager Kyle Dubas made a shrewd move. Bad because it showed how much the other defensemen struggled. Mark Giordano (minus-7), Jake McCabe (minus-7) and Justin Holl (minus-7) were a combined minus-21 in 11 playoff games. It wasn't pretty.

5. Never came close to their ceiling

Of all the stats involving the Maple Leafs, this one might be the most revealing: They had two regulation wins in 11 playoff games. That underscores the fact that they never came close to playing their best. Keefe said as much, pointing out that the series against the Panthers was lost when the Maple Leafs lost the first three games, when they had chances to win each time and didn't. Why couldn't they play up to their potential? It's a question that will loom over this franchise for the entire offseason.