from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

From Morgan Rielly, with his lip busted up after taking a Zdeno Chara shot to the face. From Auston Matthews, who fired a team-best 27 shots on goal but only beat Tuukka Rask once. From Connor Brown, who said only “tough one” while shaking broadcaster Joe Bowen’s hand in the hallway and walking off into the night.

“I’m not really commenting on anything. I didn’t go in like I normally do and go through the replays or that,” said coach Mike Babcock, letting his foot off the gas for the first time all season. “We’re done. So, we’ll have lots of time to look at those goals and get that figured out. The bottom line is we went out for the third period and they scored and we didn’t.

“Once they scored, they tilted the rink and I don’t even know how many looks we had if we had any.”

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from Bruce Arther of the Toronto Star,

Jake Gardiner looked like he wouldn’t sleep for a long time, like his stomach would feel hollow and bottomless through some long summer nights. The defenceman ran his hand through his hair, stared into space, tried to say it honestly. Tough night.

“Yeah, it was not the way we saw it going,” said Gardiner, after the Toronto Maple Leafs blew their third lead of the night in the third period and lost Game 7 to the Boston Bruins, 7-4. “Had a lead going into the third period, and personally I got to be better. A lot of this game is on me. And it’s just not good enough, especially in a game like this. It’s the most important game of the season, and I didn’t show up. There’s not much I can say, really.”

It wasn’t all Gardiner’s fault, even if that’s what some people will howl. In the biggest game of the season, goaltender Frederik Andersen failed as well: the first two goals in the third period weren’t goals a Stanley Cup goaltender should let in, and his save percentage for the series was .860.

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Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun on Auston Matthews below...