Nylander Scores in Four Straight Playoff Games


William Nylander potted his fourth goal in as many games to open the 2021 NHL Playoffs. This fact brought up many comparables of similar runs by Maple Leaf scorers from the past. Nylander is one away from the longest playoff goal streak in Maple Leafs franchise history:
1993, Dave Andreychuk scored in five consecutive games in the second round against St. Louis. This was all good and well, but unfortunately he would go on to be held scoreless in the Semifinal against Los Angeles. Perhaps even a single goal or two may have made a difference in that 7-game loss.
1951, Sid Smith scored in five straight games including the first four of the Stanley Cup Final against Montreal. He failed to score in the fifth game of the Final, the game that won the Leafs the Cup on Bill Barilko's OT winner.
1939, Gord Drillon scored in five straight to open the playoffs against New York Americans and Detroit Red Wings.

Nylander has equalled the playoff-opening run in 1986 of rookie Wendel Clark who scored in a three game sweep against Chicago and the second round opener vs. St. Louis. A goal in Game 5 will equal Drillon's run to open a playoff year.

Sid Smith is the only one of the bunch to score in four straight against Montreal, in what was one of the most memorable Cup Finals in history. Let's take a closer look at his run in 1951 through the game reports of the Globe and Mail.

Semifinal Game 5 - "Sid Smith soloed from end to end to score the fourth Toronto goal, capitalizing on his own rebound."

Cup Final Game 1 -"Sid Smith, Toronto-born hockey player with an unrehearsed flair for the dramatic, pulled all the Hollywood stops as he poked home the payoff goal for his Maple Leafs against Montreal Canadiens last night. The Groucho Marx of the Leafs' dressing room scored after five minutes and 51 seconds of sweltering, sudden-death overtime to give Leafs a 3-2 victory in the first of a best-of-seven Stanley Cup final series at the Gardens. Smitty, crew-cut citizen of West Toronto with a fine sense of humour, showed a fine sense of timing as he opened and closed the scoring in as fast and exciting a hockey game as has been seen here this season...Last night he opened the scoring after 15 seconds of play and sent 13,939 perspiring fans heading for the exits 65 minutes and 36 seconds later...He grabbed Sloan's pass out from behind the Montreal net after Tod had poked the puck from Harvey and MacPherson. Cutting a rug on ice, Smitty swept the puck into the net with a backhand effort. That was the end of game No.1."

Cup Final Game 2 - "Ted Kennedy and his line mates went to work. Kennedy who took a terrific pounding all evening, was at least 50 percent of the Toronto attack. He bulled his way goalward time and again and was directly responsible for both Toronto goals, scoring the second with Sid Smith getting the first."

Cup Final Game 3 - "But it was Kennedy and his wing partners, Sid Smith and Tod Sloan, who did most of the threatening for the Torontos...Sid Smith, Leafs' top goal man in the spring playoffs and one of the top Toronto men tonight, fired an accurate knee high drive through a narrow opening to tie the score. He skated in behind Max Bentley, who left him a drop pass and McNeil didn't have a chance."

Cup Final Game 4 - "Leafs moved in front early in this game, Sid Smith the man who has taken it as his personal responsibility to open the scoring for each game of this tremendous final series, beating McNeil after only 38 seconds of play."

Maybe Nylander can continue his run channelling Sid Smith. Maybe Toronto can continue their run to a Stanley Cup. Maybe Zach Bogosian will score an Overtime Cup winner in the vein of Bill Barilko.

As a lifelong Leafs fan, I will definitely not be getting my hopes up. As for now it's simply nice to be enjoying some winning playoff hockey, but we all know that can change in an instant. 

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