Maple Leafs Fans in Hysterics After Team Wins First Playoff Series Since 2004

Fans were over the moon after Toronto ended its 19-year drought.

At long last, the Maple Leafs are advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It’d been 19 years since the last time Toronto was able to escape the first round of the postseason, but an overtime game-winner from John Tavares sealed the Maple Leafs’s victory over the Lightning in Game 6, snapping the team’s 11-game losing streak in first-round elimination games.

The last time the Maple Leafs have played hockey beyond the opening round of the NHL playoffs was back in 2004, but they’re set to take on the winner of the series between the Bruins and Panthers, which is tied up at three wins apiece.

After six consecutive first-round exits in the playoffs, fans in Toronto and the rest of NHL Twitter erupted when the Maple Leafs finally clawed out of the early stages of the postseason.

Despite this being merely a first-round series win, it’s clear how much the moment meant to the organization and its fans. 

As Matthews indicated, there’s still work to be done for the Maple Leafs, but the end of a near two-decade long drought certainly deserves to be celebrated.