Maple leafs thrashes Panthers 2-0 and keep playoff run alive

The Toronto Maple Leafs are headed home with a chance to advance to the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs following a 2-0 win over the Florida Panthers on Friday.

 

Game 7 goes Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

 

Auston Matthews scored the Game 6 winner on Friday in a triumph in Sunrise, Fla., that extended Toronto’s season, which seemed to be on its deathbed after three straight losses.

 

It was the first goal of the series for the Maple Leafs’ captain and came on an assist from Mitch Marner with 13:40 remaining in the third period. Max Pacioretty added another, his third of the postseason, with 5:43 left.

 

Joseph Woll had 22 saves in the Maple Leafs’ net to record his first career playoff shutout. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 15 of 17 shots in the losing cause. Toronto killed off four Florida power plays.

 

Toronto did not lose four straight games during the regular season. That might be a good omen for Game 7.

“I can’t wait,” Pacioretty, who is 36 and in his 16th NHL season. He has two goals and four assists in the series. “We are going to war.”

 

The last time the club appeared in a conference final was 2002 when it fell to the Carolina Hurricanes. It hasn’t hoisted the championship trophy since 1967.

 

That was so long ago that the Beatles were still together and Lester B. Pearson was prime minister.

 

Sunday’s winner will advance to the conference final against the Hurricanes, who eliminated the Washington Capitals in five games.

 

Friday’s win was a bounce-back effort following a 6-1 defeat at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.

 

“I’ve been in that situation more than a lot of other guys,” Pacioretty said. “When you have a game like that you flush it. That might sound wrong but sometimes it’s easier than a double-overtime loss.”

 

The Maple Leafs struggled in the first round before they beat the upstart Ottawa Senators in six contests. They won the first two games on home ice against Florida but then found themselves a loss away from another early exit from the postseason.

 

They have reached the playoffs for nine straight years but have only advanced beyond the first round twice. By winning the Atlantic Division they secured the home-ice advantage for at least two rounds and now get to play in front of their home crowd in the deciding game of the series.

 

Matthews entered the night without a goal in the first five games.

 

“It felt great,” he said. “I’ve had some good opportunities in the series and didn’t capitalize on them. I had to believe that one would eventually go in.

 

“Now we have put ourselves in a win-or-go-home situation and I’m very excited for all of us. I am pretty proud of all of the guys in the room. It was just a gutsy, gutsy win.”

 

Toronto blocked 31 shots to Florida’s 10. Chris Tanev blocked six while Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Simon Benoit blocked four a piece.

 

“I thought we were waving the gun a lot but just didn’t pull the trigger,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “

 

Marner, whose struggles in the postseason are all too familiar, had all but disappeared against Florida. Quite possibly if the Maple Leafs get knocked out of this round he will not be back with the the team next year. His contract is about to expire.

 

Now he and his teammates have another chance to end a long-running failure in the playoffs.

 

“Game sevens are fun,” Craig Berube, the Toronto head coach, said. He was behind the bench in 2019 when the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup in seven. “They mean a lot to everybody.

 

“When I was growing up myself and all of my friends always dreamed about a Game 7. Everything is on the line.”

 

In the two previous games Toronto was unable to solve Bobrovsky. After an iffy start to the series he stopped 54 of 55 shots in Games 4 and 5.

 

“He’s one of the top one or two goalies in the world and has been for a long time,” Brad Marchand said. He was shipped from Florida to Boston at the trade deadline. “Since coming here I have a much deeper appreciation for him, for the way he prepares every day and the incredible pro he is, the career he has had and who is every single day.

“He doesn’t have the success he has had by accident.”

 

Toronto started much better than it had in its 6-1 loss in Game 5. Then again, it could not have done much worse. The Maple Leafs killed off two penalties in the first period and put more pucks on the net but were again stymied by Bobrovsky.

 

They outshot the Panthers 7-2 over the first 20 minutes but it was tied 0-0 going into the first intermission. The pace increased in the second period and Florida started to push but Woll was up to the task.

 

Woll, who lost the three previous games in place of the injured Anthony Stolarz, gave up five goals on 25 shots in Game 5 but was on his toes this time.

 

Now both teams are gearing up for one last battle.

 

“Game sevens are free,” Maurice said. “They are all the energy you have with no thought of tomorrow.”

 

 

 

 

 

This article was first reported by The Globe and Mail