from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

And the Leafs were a step slow, lacking playoff urgency, lacking speed and emotion, losing too many puck battles, not nearly competitive enough to eliminate the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night when they should have.

And still they had a chance late in regulation to win the series and an opportunity to come back and win in overtime.

That they lost in the first minute of the fourth period was really an indication of all that was lacking much of the night for a Leafs team that got down 3-0, fought back hard to tie the game at 3-3, then got caught on a poor Alex Galchenyuk turnover that turned into rare 2-on-0 breakaway in overtime, and gave Nick Suzuki one of the easiest and most important goals he will ever score.

This may be a new Maple Leafs team — and it is — but this was an old Leafs habit coming back to haunt them. The Leafs could have knocked Columbus out in the bubble last summer: They had to win Game 5. They didn’t.

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