Leafs embrace another Game 7 test: 'We're good enough to beat anybody'

TORONTO — Auston Matthews let his actions on the ice do the talking all season.

Toronto's star sniper also didn't mince words with the Maple Leafs preparing to face yet another Game 7 showdown with the intense pressure of past playoff failures casting a long shadow.

The NHL's first 60-goal man in more than a decade wants his team to embrace the moment.

In truth, he expects it.

"That's all you can do," Matthews said in the aftermath of Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss that saw the Tampa Bay Lightning avoid elimination and force a winner-take-all finale in a series that's featured razor-thin margins and little sustained momentum.

"We've just got to put our balls on the line and go for it."

The Leafs will host the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions in Saturday's Game 7 as they endeavour to finally flip a post-season script littered with infamous collapses and missed opportunities.

"That's the perfect way to describe Game 7s," Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said Friday of his best player's comments before the Leafs flew home. "It requires an all-in effort. You've got to put everything you have into the game.

"It's going to be two teams that will leave it all out there."

Mark Giordano smiled when asked about Matthews' blunt words.

"We've got to have that mentality," said the veteran defenceman. "We've got to believe in ourselves. We're good enough to beat anybody."

The Lightning, however, aren't just anybody.

A battle-tested and battle-scarred roster knows what's required at this time of year after overcoming its own playoff heartbreak.

Toronto, meanwhile, is still desperately trying to get to that level as the team continues to search for its first series victory since 2004.

The core of this Leafs group — Matthews,