Leafs need to put epic loss behind them as they prepare for next season

TORONTO – The first thing the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to do to prepare for next season is find a way to get over the sting of their epic collapse against the Boston Bruins.

Toronto surrendered a late three-goal lead in Game 7 before finally losing the series on Patrice Bergeron’s overtime goal.

Head coach Randy Carlyle addressed the media three days after the 5-4 loss, saying the feeling was like being “hit between the eyes with a hammer.” He says the team will find a way to overcome the loss, but will never forget it.

The coach says the Leafs should have attacked more late in the game to protect the lead, rather than sitting back and letting Boston come at them.

Toronto made the playoffs for the first time in nine years this season and gave the favoured Bruins all they could handle in the first-round series, but the way it ended cast a shadow on those accomplishments.

The Leafs also say that centre Tyler Bozak injured an oblique at the end of the regular season and tore a triceps muscle in Game 5 against Boston. Toronto’s top faceoff man did not play in the final two games of the series.