This has to be it: the end of the Shanaplan, the end of the Core Four Toronto Maple Leafs.
There’s no running it back. Not after this. Not after maybe the most embarrassing loss of this era, which came four nights after the other most embarrassing loss of this era. Not after letting a 2-0 series lead melt away with four losses in five games. Not after the core of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares failed again when it mattered. Not after seven tries with that core.
Not after seven straight Game 7 losses in that era, with a single goal scored in the last five of them.
Not after four goals — total — in the final four games of this second-round series.
This is the end of something. It has to…