They were physical: The Panthers smother the Leafs and debunked the notion they’re tanking to set up a first-round meeting

If the Maple Leafs were looking for an opponent to push them into playoff-style hockey, they found one Tuesday in Sunrise, Fla.

 

The Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers played to their trademark style: They were physical, they forechecked hard, they went to the net, and they won puck battles.

 

It was the style that coach Craig Berube craves for his Leafs, but few on the Toronto side could match what Florida threw at them.

 

A third-period goal by Eetu Luostarinen and an empty-netter by Carter Verhaeghe proved the difference in a 3-1 Panthers decision that ended the Leafs’ four-game winning streak.

 

“We expect that when we come in here that it’s going to be a hard battle,” Leafs forward Matthew Knies said. “We (knew) it was going to be like this. We tried to push back. We didn’t do a good enough job. Our physicality, we were a little bit soft in some areas. Didn’t play the full 60.

“We’re gonna have to learn to do that when it comes to playoff time.”

 

John Tavares scored his 37th goal in the second period, and Joseph Woll did everything he could to keep the Leafs in the game by stopping 34 of 36 shots.

 

The Panthers suffocated the Leafs. It wasn’t suffocating defence; it was suffocating offence. They played in the Leafs end, not really caring about scoring. They were happy to keep the Leafs 200 feet away from their net.

 

“To me, it just comes down to competitiveness and digging in more,” Berube said. “They seemed like a more desperate team than us. We spent too much time defending, not enough time in the offensive zone.

 

“They wanted it more.”

 

The Leafs could have clinched home-ice advantage by taking two points, but instead the jockeying for position at the top of the Atlantic Division will continue with the Leafs facing their closest pursuer, Tampa Bay, on Wednesday.

 

“We were a little slow to pucks,” Knies said. “We weren’t creating much offence. That bummed us a little bit. We’ve got to know that simple hockey is what’s going to create the offence for us and then create that juice.”

 

“We’re all hungry and eager to prove that this game was just a fluke and that we can do a lot better.”

Standings talk

There was, understandably, a lot of chatter before the game about playoff positioning.

 

“It’s obviously such a tight race, with (the Panthers) and the Lightning, and Ottawa’s catching up, too,” Leafs forward Steven Lorentz said. “It’s tight all over. There’s spots to be made up, places to be earned. Teams are going to get jumped (in the standings). There’s going to be a lot of movement.”

 

One theory from the tinfoil hat crowd had the Panthers tanking to finish fourth in the Atlantic, just so they could play the Leafs in the first round.

 

More to the truth, the Panthers are banged up and their five-game losing streak coming into the game was evidence of that. They were still without Matthew Tkachuk (groin) and the suspended Aaron Ekblad, among others.

 

Panthers bite

Any suggestion the Panthers didn’t care should have been out the window after their dominant first period. They got the only goal, on a clean draw from Anton Lundell to Gustav Forsling, outshot the Leafs 14-4, and got 12 of the last 13 shots on net.

 

“That one’s on me,” Tavares said of his faceoff loss. “I was anticipating something on his end and I completely mistimed it, misread it. I can’t lose it clean like that and give up an opportunity like that.”

Woll got the start, with Anthony Stolarz expected to play Wednesday in Tampa. Leafs coach Craig Berube didn’t get into the whys and wherefores, other than to say Woll hadn’t played Florida yet this season.

 

That first-period goal wasn’t a good one, a wrist shot with no traffic in front of Woll.

 

But that was his only sin. He came up big on a couple of chances by Brad Marchand as Florida held a 28-14 lead in shots through two periods and he added to the total in the third.

 

“He played excellent,” Berube said. “Gave us a chance to get points tonight.”

 

The Leafs were better in the second. Tavares tied the game early in the second period, an unassisted goal. His shot seemed to both handcuff and surprise Sergei Bobrovsky.

 

Luostarinen’s winner came early in the third when Morgan Rielly’s clearing attempt behind the net hit a stick and landed on the Panthers forward’s stick alone in front.

 

“In tight games it’s usually a bounce that goes either way,” Woll said. “And, unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of that bounce.”

 

 

 

 

This article was first reported by The Star