Years later, the Leafs are still marked by the past of Game 7

After pissing her off at home, someone questioned Auston Matthews about the story. What is another way of saying, "How are you cursed? Fortune tellers at the mall accursed or damned cursed?

Matthews tried to locate his prepared speech. He sighed so much that he seemed out of breath.

"You … uh … I think you can learn from these experiences," he said.

Obviously not. At least not yet. But as you knew, we will try it again.

The Leafs are not just a hockey club. They are proof that there are temporal distortions. They are being sucked up again.

Matthews was referring to Game 7 as a general proposition and Game 7 against Boston in particular. This will be the leafs' third start in seven years. You will remember that the first two did not go well.

If the body language that directly follows a big defeat is a good idea of ​​the position of the head, the Leafs do not look good on Sunday night. Many vacant looks and hanging heads. John Tavares kept saying, "That's what it is," as if that explained things.

In comparison, Brad Marchand from Boston walked barefoot to his post-game press conference.

"We must congratulate ourselves," said Marchand, which is perhaps the most Brad Marchand has ever said.

But he is right. They do.

In Game 6, the Leafs were fantastic for 10 minutes. Then Boston did the opposite of the rope and pushed the Leafs out of the ring. Two quick goals and it was essentially that. It has ended 4-2.

"I do not know if the emotions got the better of us," said Toronto coach Mike Babcock later. Well, that bodes well for Tuesday.

Boston did not have the emotional air. Sometimes he seemed to be bored. Towards the end of the second, Zdeno Chara left his feet in order to use Jake Muzzin's head to cut a window into the glass. Having just tried to kill a man, Chara disengaged himself, carelessly.

At this time of the year, the NHL becomes the world of the Boston Bruins. Everyone lives there.

The psychic healing of the previous two games in Toronto 7 marked the recent history of this franchise.

The seventh game of 2013 – the collapse – destroyed what was left of the team's reputation and prompted the fan base to revolt. It took a few months to burn the Earth, but the clearing was very close to the total.

All that the Leafs have now – Matthews, Tavares, Babcock, Shanaplan, self-respect – is a direct result of this humiliation. If that had not happened, the Leafs could always try to sell permanent mediocrity as a grandiose vision.

The seventh game of last year was less terrible, but also less positive. He has established the idea that the Leafs are soft and underused. He created the story of the "missing piece". If the Leafs lose again, there are two possible scapegoats: the one who foregoes the winning goal (please, God, do not let him be Jake Gardiner) or Babcock. The coach is doing his best not to have the penalty shootout problem with the Leafs, but things are not going well.

The confusion of the Toronto special teams is so complete that Morgan Rielly did not even guess what's wrong.

What are they doing on the digital side?

"I do not really know," Rielly said. They took the momentum after this quick start. How did they do that?

"I do not really know," Rielly said.

There is no good thing to say now, and a host of bad ones. It's better to sound stupid than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

In 48 hours, Rielly will be either a goat or a goat. There is no medium.

Let's say they win Tuesday.

The city goes bananas. After a few years of reasonable behavior, the usual irrational exuberance of Toronto about this team comes back as an air filling the void. All slow and progressive speeches are now defeatist and perhaps treacherous. The Leafs have rocked their demons and are about to become bigger than the 1977 Canadians.

Let's say that they lose Tuesday.

Another series of self-flagellation. Someone must be fired – probably the Nazem Kadri pinata enthusiast. Someone else must be blamed – probably Babcock. His gold medals have earned him a lovely life in Toronto, but there will come a time when people will convince themselves that a generation coach is actually a complete charlatan. It's just the way of things.

In this scenario, the off season is short, and by the time they come back, people have stopped liking the mix to demand immediate results. The call to change for change intensifies and the end-of-day clock begins to blink. It may be years before the explosion, but you know it happens.

The Leafs are in love since Babcock's arrival. It was always going to end this spring. Once Tavares was signed, all the excuses for growth pains evaporated.

But this way – a game 7 in Boston as a way to mark your progress – means that the change in perception will be traumatic. Wednesday morning, this team will be seen differently, for better or for worse.

Rielly had the last word on Sunday. He just missed the first disaster of the seventh game. Reputed, he came out relatively unscathed from the second. He therefore has the right to have a sense of humor about it. It's not everyone who gets this freedom.

What will it take to win a seventh game in Boston?

"Well, we'll score more goals than them …" said Rielly. His comic timing is pretty good. At first, people were not sure that he was serious, but Rielly gave some beats for them to know how to laugh.

Once they had stopped, his shoulders drooping a little, he thought a little more about the question and said, "I do not know." It was almost nostalgic. Do not worry about that, Morgan. This is Toronto. Nobody knows the answer to this question.