I see three possibilities here:
1. Leafs lose in game 5 = similar to game 4
2. Leafs win in game 7 = team snaps out of it and goes on a run and saves the team
3. Leafs lose in game 7 = bring hope to the fan base but then kills us again
I think the third option is most likely cause its very leaf like.
1) Losing in 5 vs Boston in Boston is the most humane way to kill off this era. Make it a swift and decisive end, show the core group has checked out on Keefe. Let consequences flow from such a horrible performance. Or win and prolong the agony. Also interesting to note the change to Woll in net coincides with when Florida went back to Bobrovsky, so we would be introducing some weird Boston themes as well if we won this game.
2) Taking this to Game 6 only to lose in front of the paying home crowd would be extremely Leafy. Give you the extra 48 hours of hope only to confirm what could have been confirmed Tuesday, but also suck up some extra hockey related revenue from the local economy. Cause why not?
3) Taking this to Game 7 is the ultimate tease. If it ever got to this point, I put the likelihood of a Leafs win at infinitesimally low % but it wouldn’t have stopped any of us from BeLeafing for a few extra days.