Maple Leafs miss latest chance to close out series in Game 5 defeat

And they still have home field advantage for Game 7, which would be played here at the Scotiabank Arena on Monday if needed. Should they win Saturday (7 p.m. ET; TBS, SN, CBC, TVAS, BSSUN) Game 6 at Tampa’s Amalie Arena, they will eliminate the Lightning and it will be a moot point.

That’s all well and good.

But dig deeper, and there’s plenty to worry about for the Maple Leafs and their beleaguered fanbase.

Here’s why:

Since losing Game 7 to the Boston Bruins in the 2013 Eastern Conference First Round, they have gone 11-0 in games where they had an opportunity to eliminate an opponent.

Of course, their core players of today – forwards Austin Matthews, Mitchell Marner, William Nylander and defender Morgan Rielly — did not play in this Boston series. Fair enough.

But the fact remains that the group of four players is now 0-10 in these situations.

Where’s the killer instinct that’s critical to winning runs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

To that end, Reilly was asked if he wondered what it would take to win one of those elimination matches.

“Always,” replied the Maple Leafs defenseman. “Until we do.”

[RELATED: Complete Maple Leafs vs Lightning series coverage]

There’s the catch.

Rielly was arguably Toronto’s best player in that series. The 29-year-old had four assists in Game 2, scored the overtime goal in Game 3, forced overtime with a late goal in Game 4 and opened the scoring in Game 5.

And yet even he has no answer as to what it will take to complete this series. Or any series for that matter.

If he has no solution, then who?

Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe has repeatedly stated that this team, this streak, this vibe feels “different” for a franchise that has lost its inaugural streak in six straight years and hasn’t progressed since 2004.

And there was cautious buy-in from the skeptical fan base, from those who had gathered outside the arena to watch the game on a big screen in Maple Leafs Square, to the 19,663 shoehorns at Scotiabank Arena who started rocking the booth as the teams won the warm-up ice.

When Rielly scored the first goal at 5:46 in the first period to give Toronto a 1-0 lead, the noise level in the rink was louder than it had been this year. Outside, the swarm of fans went nuts.

Not for long.

Just 26 seconds later, all that momentum, that juice, that adrenaline, that volume was sucked out of the arena as Lightning stepped into the center Anthony Cirelli was left all alone Ilya Samsonov and scored a rebound to make it 1-1.

The Maple Leafs held the lead for less than half a minute. It would turn out to be the only thing they would have in Game 5.

Coaches from minor hockey leagues to veteran NHL bench managers will tell you that the most important change in any game is after a goal. In that regard, Toronto hasn’t stopped its demise.

“That goal was a game changer,” said Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper. “Who knows where the game is going if he hasn’t scored there?”

But he did.

And instead of putting the dagger in the face of a Lightning team that has reached the Stanley Cup Finals three times in a row, the Maple Leafs let them off the mat.

From there, the Tampa Bay championship pedigree took over.

Michael Eysimont gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead at 4:23 of the second period, a shot Samsonov should have stopped. Of more concern about the game was the way the defender played Justin Holl turned away from the Tampa Bay forward and allowed him to fire past him and run towards the Toronto goalie.

Lightning led the rest of the way.

Holl was down-3 at 12:33 p.m. Thursday and was on the ice for 14 of Tampa Bay’s 20 goals in the series, including nine in 5-on-5s. On the one hand, Keefe defended the 31-year-old and said there were more players on the ice in situations like this. On the other hand, he said, “the guys have to be better.”

Yes, they do.

Rielly also spoke about the need to improve on clearing the Maple Leafs zone. They appear sluggish, almost shy at times, as if they are more afraid of making a possible mistake than moving pucks from their own corner with confidence and speed.

“We have to be good in our own zone,” he said. “We have to be quick. That starts with our defence.”

Matthews said the forwards also need to be better at closing the gap between them and the defense.

“It’s all five guys,” he said. “We have to be in a good place and communicate. Your forecheck was very aggressive.”

Translation: The Lightning had a lot more offensive zone time than the Maple Leafs in Game 5 and for much of that series.

Make no mistake: The Maple Leafs fought to the end and closed the gap to 3-2 Alex Killorn‘s empty goal five seconds from time sealed the deal. They’ve won both previous games in Tampa, including Game 4, despite trailing 4-1 in the third period. And they still have two chances to win.

“We have confidence in our group,” said Rielly. “No doubt they will come out hard.

“We believe in ourselves.”

Perhaps.

But until they can back up that belief by winning one of those elimination games, an entire town will remain in doubt.

And rightly so.