What a difference a week makes in the NHL playoffs

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Seven days ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs were the betting favourites to win the Stanley Cup. Now, on the brink of getting swept by Florida, they've tumbled to the worst title odds among the eight remaining NHL playoff teams.

Here's a look at how fortunes have swung for Toronto and other Cup contenders as we hit the midpoint of a rollicking second round:

It's all falling apart for the Leafs.

Quite a reversal from last Monday, when one of the subheads in this newsletter was: "It's all falling into place for the Leafs." In our defence, those were heady times. Toronto had just slayed two decades' worth of demons with its first playoff series victory since 2004, and the path to the franchise's first championship in 56 years suddenly looked much clearer after Cup favourite Boston's shocking Game 7 loss to Florida. Instead of facing the big, bad Bruins in the second round, Toronto drew a Panthers team that had the worst record among the 16 playoff qualifiers.

One week later, the Leafs are on the brink of elimination by those Panthers after losing 3-2 in overtime last night to fall into a 3-0 hole in the series. Only four teams in NHL history have overcome that deficit, and NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger points out some more sobering facts: the Leafs have just one regulation win in nine playoff games, they've scored just two goals in each of their past five, and the high-priced quartet of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares has combined for zero goals in the Florida series after each man averaged better than a point per game vs. Tampa Bay.

More bad news: