Crashing out might be par for the course for the Maple Leafs, but historically nobody in professional sports has mastered losing in the playoffs quite like the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sunday night marked the ninth season in a row the team has made the playoffs,

The Toronto Maple Leafs, in some ways, are just like the vast majority of NHL teams. “There’s 31 teams that go home very disappointed and we’re one of them,” Toronto captain Auston Matthews said after the Leafs’ season came to an end on Sunday night. In so many other ways, though, the Leafs have found ways to be anything but a normal NHL team.

None of the Maple Leafs were. This was the biggest game in franchise history in 23 years. With a victory in Game 7 of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Second Round, Toronto would reach the conference final for the first time since 2002 when they faced the Carolina Hurricanes.