WHAT DO WE DO NOW? - HANGING ON IS NO LONGER AN OPTION FOR THE SECOND-ROUND BOUND MAPLE LEAFS

Mario Russo

As a cluster of white jerseys scraped and scratched their way along the boards of Amalie Arena following John Tavaras’ game six overtime winner, Maple Leafs Radio Announcer Joe Bowen sounded off on the hockey team he’s been covering for the last forty one years.

As his historic call on the Maple Leafs’ curse-crunching victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning reached it’s fable end, color-commentator Jim Ralph broke an eight-second silence with the very same question that in the moment, bafflingly mounted atop the mind of Leafs Nation:

“What Do We Do Now,” said Ralph.

Before those listening even got a chance to gather their thoughts on how to react to the team’s first series victory in over nineteen years, Bowen exhaled - and with it, delivered a loud and elongated laugh.

A chuckle held in for far too long. A call of that magnitude, miserably marinating for even longer.

The drought that casted upon the entire lives of a wide demographic of Leaf fans was now a thing of the past. A series was finally won, the city was irrevocably redeemed as playoff demons frantically fluttered through the humid streets of Toronto’s downtown core.

Yet nearly 24 hours after Jim Ralph initially questioned how to react to Saturday’s series-clinching tally, that very same inquiry has made its way towards a Maple Leafs team fresh off its most historic win in decades.

“What Do They Do Now?”

As expected, the answers stemming from both head coach Sheldon Keefe and his players revolve around the notion of business being far from complete. Despite all the physical and emotional baggage that comes with hurdling this postseason obstacle, the team has kept their celebrations in check, as well as their minds focused on shattering one of the longest championship droughts in professional sports.

Their next test will come against either the Boston Bruins or Florida Panthers - depending on the outcome of Sunday’s game seven contest at TD Gardens. Regardless of the team in front of them however, the Leafs will need to focus on finding new and better ways to unlock its full potential through three periods of play.

It is integral to their future postseason success as an organization.

Despite finding a way to eliminate the Lightning in the first round, maintaining a consistent approach on both ends of the ice was a glaring absence from games three to six for the Maple Leafs.

More often than not, the group struggled to put themselves into gear offensively - especially when holding onto a lead - which even in itself failed to last.

It was evident through their game five defeat to the Bolts that saw the energy stemming from Morgan Rielly’s 1-0 tally totally dissipate with an Anthony Cirelli equalizer just 26 seconds later. It grew even more apparent throughout the third period of game six that not only saw the Lightning immediately knott the game up at one apiece, but heavily outshoot the Maple Leafs 11-4.

All throughout the series, overtime felt like an accomplishment in itself for Toronto - a team on the ropes for long stretches of play, but never losing consciousness.

Some might even say lucky to be alive.

Persistence has been the key ingredient missing from the Maple Leafs in each and every playoff letdown in years past. It has readily steered the ship forward for them this time around, snapping a dreaded curse in the process. But being able to tirelessly claw back into games should be a viable tool in the Leafs disposal.

It should not, and cannot be the entire toolbox they have to work with the rest of the way forward.

Toronto will have a crucial amount of time to rest up, heal wounds, and shift their focus to besting the next obstacle that stands in their way of lifting the Stanley Cup. More importantly, the team must fine tune its game on both ends of the ice to push their phase of hanging on, to hanging numbers on their future opposition.

Because that’s what good teams do.