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Ottawa Citizen

Tom Mayenknecht: Leafs losing legacy looms

Article content Bulls of the week Article content The stock market of sport — what we call The Sport Market — is as fluid as the real stock exchanges on Bay Street, Wall Street and Kabutocho, home of the Nikkei 225. A bull market for a winning team can quickly turn bearish over the course of 48 to 72 hours. Article content Just ask the Toronto Maple Leafs, who go into the weekend facing elimination after three straight losses to the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers. Article content Article content Just over a week ago, the Leafs were sitting pretty and on a roll; winners of the first two games of the best-of-seven second round matchup and an overtime goal away from a commanding 3-0 series lead. Article content Article content Now, it's the Panthers who are in the driver's seat with a chance to close out the series in Fort Lauderdale on Friday night. Florida is vying not only for their second straight Cup win, but also their third consecutive appearance in the NHL championship final. Article content Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers ' stock surged after an impressive win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night. The biggest beneficiary in terms of his own personal stock was Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner, who closed out the five-game series with back-to-back shutouts. Article content Now the Oilers, last year's runners-up to the Panthers, await the winner of the other western conference semifinal between the Winnipeg Jets and the Dallas Stars, which the Jets extended to six games with a tidy 4-0 shutout win over the Stars, owned by B.C. business mogul Tom Gaglardi. Article content Article content The NHL could still have a pair of Game 7s if Toronto and Winnipeg force the Panthers and the Stars to the maximum, but the NBA already has one seven-game series locked in, and it's an interesting one. The Association's most consistent team — Canadian Shai Gilgeous Alexander and the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder — will need to win on home court against Nicola Jokic, Canadian Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets. Article content Article content Meanwhile, the reigning NBA-champ Boston Celtics go into the weekend trying to force a Game 7 against the surprising New York Knicks. They'll have to do that without their stud Jayson Tatum, out for the season with an Achilles injury suffered in Game 5. Article content In the case of the Leafs, their fall from grace Wednesday night was a literal embarrassment. Even by Leafs' standards it was an unfathomable display from a perennial buzz kill. Article content They lost one of the most important playoff games in franchise history and did so without hardly a whimper, leaving the ice to angry boos, tossed jerseys and a 6-1 loss that will do nothing to change the narrative around the Leafs' core four of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares.