Tuesday’s FTB: How do the Maple Leafs fare when leading a series 2-1?

Last night the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2 to take a 2-1 series lead. This cut Nazem Kadri’s suspension down to only two more games.

If you missed the game, you can check out my recap here and watch the game in six below;

With the Leafs taking a 2-1 series lead, I thought I’d look to see how well the Leafs have done when up 2-1 in a series. Are you ready for a trip through Leafs history? Too bad if you’re not, here we go.

1935: Toronto leads Boston 2-1

This was the first year the Leafs took a 2-1 series lead. They would win game four 2-1 in overtime and take the best of five series, but be swept by the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final.

1936: Toronto defeats the New York Americans 2-1

I don’t know why this series ended 2-1, when the opposite series of Detroit vs Montreal ended 3-0. The NHL is fun. The Leafs would then go on and lose to the Red Wings in the final 3-1 in a five game series.

1939: Toronto defeats Detroit 2-1

Again, this series was three games, while the Bruins/Rangers went seven is completely in line with the NHL. The Leafs would lose the cup finals to the Bruins in five games.

1941: Toronto leads Boston 2-1

The Leafs wouldn’t hold this lead; the Leafs went up 3-2 but would lose the next two games, and the series, to the Boston Bruins 4-3.

1942: Toronto leads the New York Rangers 2-1

The Leafs would take this series in six games, and go on to win the Stanley Cup over the Red Wings - despite going down 3-0 in the series. The Leafs would be the first professional team to come back from a 3-0 series deficit.

1945: Toronto leads the Montreal 2-1

The Leafs would win this series in six games, then go on to defeat the Detroit Red Wings in seven games for the Stanley Cup.

1947: Toronto leads Detroit 2-1

The Leafs would win this series in five games.

1947: Toronto leafs Montreal 2-1

The Leafs would take their second 2-1 lead in these playoffs and win the Stanley Cup in six games.

1948: Toronto leads Boston 2-1

The Leafs would beat the Bruins in five games, and then sweep the Red Wings for the Stanley Cup.

1949: Toronto leads Boston 2-1

The Leafs would beat the Bruins in five games, and then sweep the Red Wings in the final for the second season in a row.

1950: Toronto leads Detroit 2-1

The Maple Leafs would fall to a 3-2 series deficit, then lose the series in seven games to the Red Wings who would go on to win the Stanley Cup.

1951: Toronto leads Boston 2-1

The Leafs would beat Boston in five games, then beat the Canadiens in five for the Stanley cup.

1960: Toronto leads Detroit 2-1

After some playoff losses and missed seasons, the Leafs would find themselves with a 2-1 lead over the Red Wings. Game tree was a triple overtime affair, and the Leafs would take the series in six games, but be swept in the cup final by Montreal.

1962: Toronto leads the New York Rangers 2-1

The Leafs dropped a 2-0 series lead to New York, but would win it in six games.

1962: Toronto leads Chicago 2-1

The Leafs would hold on to this series and win the Cup in six games.

1963: Toronto leads Detroit 2-1

The Leafs would win the Cup in five games, after going up 2-1.

1967: Toronto leads Chicago 2-1

As you can figure, the Leafs would win this series, they did it in six games.

1967: Toronto leafs Montreal 2-1

The Leafs would win game three in double overtime, then go on to win the series - and their last cup - in six games.

1971: Toronto leads the New York Rangers 2-1

The Leafs took a few years to take a series lead, but this one wouldn’t stick. They dropped the series in six games.

1975: Toronto defeats Los Angeles Kings 2-1

This is actually the Leafs first playoff win since 1967. They would then be swept by the Philadelphia Flyers in round two.

1976: Toronto defeats Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1

The Leafs would win back to back round one series, and be knocked out in back to back second round series by the Flyers. This year though the series went seven games.

1977: Toronto defeats Pittsburgh 2-1

These three game series were great for the Leafs.

1977: Toronto leads Philadelphia 2-1

Though the second round series vs the Flyers were not. Leafs would lose this one in six.

1986: Toronto leads the St. Louis Blues 2-1

The Leafs next 2-1 lead would come in the second round of the 1986 playoffs, but the Blues would win the series in seven games.

1987: Toronto leafs Detroit 2-1

The Leafs would take the lead in the Norris Division finals, but drop the series in seven games to the Red Wings.

1994: Toronto leads Chicago 2-1

The Leafs would open the playoffs with a 2-1 lead over the Blackhawks, and win the series in six games, beat San Jose in seven, then lose the Western Conference Final to the Vancouver Canucks in five games.

1995: Toronto leads Chicago 2-1

The Leafs would open the next years playoffs the same way, but Chicago would have their revenge, beating the Leafs in seven games.

1999: Toronto leads Philadelphia 2-1

The Leafs missed the playoffs for a few seasons, then came back to take a 2-1 lead in round one over the Flyers and win the series in six games. They would move on to beat the Penguins in six, then fall to the Buffalo Sabres in five.

2000: Toronto leads the Ottawa Senators 2-1

The Maple Leafs would beat the Senators in six games, then fall to the New Jersey Devils in six.

2002: Toronto leads the New York Islanders 2-1

The Leafs would win this very controversial series in seven games, before moving on to beat the Ottawa Senators in seven games, then fall in the Conference Finals to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games.

2003: Toronto leads Philadelphia 2-1

The Leafs would take the series lead with a double overtime game three, but ultimately fall to the Flyers in seven games.

2004: Toronto leads Ottawa 2-1

The Maple Leafs beat the Senators in seven games, then lose their final second round series to the Flyers in six games. The Maple Leafs would not make the second round of the playoffs, since 2004.

2017: Toronto leads the Washington Capitals 2-1

The Leafs would take the lead in this series, but then fall to the Capitals in six games.

After all that, the Maple Leafs record in series that start with a 2-1 Toronto lead is 24 series wins and 9 series losses, giving the Maple Leafs a 73% success rate with this lead.

The Maple Leafs are 4-1 against the Bruins when holding a 2-1 series lead.

Make of that what you will.

Now, the news.

Let’s start with the bad news:

Nazem Kadri suspended for the rest of the first round of the playoffs

That’s out of the way, now here’s some history:

Are the Maple Leafs due to upset the favoured Bruins?

Some opinion:

Maple Leafs vs. Bruins: Referees Overshadow The Results

And the rest of the league.

I’ve never heard of these guys.

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