Playing like the defending Stanley Cup champions they are, the Florida Panthers throttled the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena, and advanced to the Eastern Conference Final for the third consecutive season.
If the Panthers played to form in this series-deciding seventh game, so, too, did the Maple Leafs. Toronto tied an NHL record by losing its seventh straight Game 7, six of those with Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly in the lineup. This likely will be their lasting legacy, since there’s a good chance Marner leaves this summer as an unrestricted free agent, as could John Tavares, who’s also a UFA.
The Maple Leafs have not advanced past the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2002. They have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967, a drought that now extends to 58 years.
Playing Game 7 on home ice thanks to finally finishing first in the Atlantic Division this season, the Maple Leafs were nearly run out of their own building in the opening nine minutes Sunday. Florida attempted 20 shots — recording seven on goal — before Toronto had one single attempt. That is an unreal stat, but it spoke to how much the Panthers owned the puck and won every puck battle to start the game.
But once the Maple Leafs found their footing, they had one Grade-A scoring chance after another against Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky in the second half of the opening period. The very first Maple Leafs shot on goal, a chip in-close by Nylander off a slick Tavares feed at 11:37, very nearly found its way into the net. Bobrovsky, who’s now won three straight Game 7s, one in each of the past three postseasons, robbed Nylander, then turned away Max Pacioretty from the low slot two minutes later, and stoned Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz on partial breakaways before the period ended.
After that scoreless and entertaining first period, the Panthers erupted for three goals in a span of 6:24 in the second period to take a 3-0 lead. Seth Jones broke the ice, zipping a shot off the rush from the right circle past Joseph Woll at 3:15 for his third goal of the playoffs and second of the series. A neat pass by Evan Rodrigues in the neutral zone sprung Jones and Sam Reinhart on a 2-on-1. When defenseman Brandon Carlo played the pass, Jones wired his shot far side off the post and in.
Anton Lundell made it 2-0 at 7:18, burying a rebound of Brad Marchand’s shot for his fourth postseason goal. The onslaught continued at 9:39 when Florida’s fourth-line came through. Jonah Gadjovich had an easy finish after A.J. Greer collected his own rebound and found his open teammate in front.
As brutal as this sequence was for the Maple Leafs, it could have been worse. Way worse. As in 6-0 worse. The relentless Panthers came within inches of scoring again at 11:20, but Sam Bennett’s deflection hit the post, not the back of the net. A minute later, with Woll way out of position, Carter Verhaeghe shot toward the open net, but the puck hit Carlo in his rear end, with the defenseman spun backwards to the play.
At 15:01, the Panthers did get the puck over the goal line again, but Jones’ apparent goal was waved off because the on-ice officials ruled he interfered with Woll. It was an extremely fortunate call for Toronto because Jones was knocked down by a Maple Leafs defender and into the goalie after his initial shot was denied by Woll. As Jones fell down the puck hit his skate and went over the goal line, but the goal was disallowed and the Panthers carried a 3-0 lead into the second intermission.
It appeared, briefly, that the Maple Leafs would take advantage of those three big breaks, when Max Domi beat Bobrovsky through the five hole just 2:07 into the third period to make it 3-1. But the Panthers showed again why they are the defending Stanley Cup champions, scoring 47 seconds later to restore their three-goal lead.
Eetu Luostarinen went to the net and redirected Marchand’s shot just inside the near post for his third playoff goal, silencing the briefly reinvigorated Scotiabank Arena crowd.
Reinhart made it 5-1, sending his fourth playoff goal past a screened Woll after a face-off win by Aleksander Barkov at 9:24. Silence was soon replaced by boos from the Toronto crowd. An all-too-familiar script was too much for the Maple Leafs fans to take, yet again.
Marchand added insult to injury when he hit the empty net from long distance with 3:03 to play.
The Panthers are off to Raleigh now, where they will play Game 1 of the conference final against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. The Maple Leafs head off into a very murky uncertain offseason.
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3 takeaways after Panthers advance to Eastern Conference Final with 6-1 win in Game 7 against Maple Leafs
1. Marchand massive Maple Leafs menace
Different uniform. Same Brad Marchand. And that spelled trouble for the Maple Leafs yet again.
An absolute thorn in Toronto’s side for 16 seasons when he played for the rival Boston Bruins, Marchand continued to be a menace against the Maple Leafs in this series with the Panthers. Marchand had a goal and two assists in the decisive Game 7 and eight points in the series, more than any player for either team. Most importantly, with the Panthers down 2-0 in the series, he scored the overtime winner in Game 3 at home that just may have saved their season.
Marchand played the 13th Game 7 of his career Sunday, tied for second most in NHL history, one behind his former Bruins teammates Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara, who each appeared in 14. The feisty 37-year-old Panthers forward has been on the winning side eight times in Game 7s, tying Ryan McDonagh for most among active players. That includes a perfect 5-0 record against the Maple Leafs.
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2. Seth Jones: difference maker
Like Marchand, Jones was a late-season trade acquisition by the Panthers. And it just proves how savvy Florida general manager Bill Zito is. After the Panthers won the Cup last spring, they lost more than half of their bottom-six forward group and two of their top-six defensemen. Up against the salary cap, Zito patched those holes with a slew of unheralded additions.
But then he went big ahead of the trade deadline. Marchand arrived from the Bruins and now is a key member in the third line with Lundell and Luostarinen. Jones was picked up from the Chicago Blackhawks and has averaged nearly 26 minutes a night on the blue line.
Jones was excellent all series, but was a difference maker in Game 7. Right from the start, he was active, aggressively pinching in from the point to keep pucks alive in the offensive zone and put pressure on the Maple Leafs. He stepped up to repeatedly cause turnovers and generate scoring chances. He finished with one goal (should’ve been two), one assist, four shots on goal, seven shot attempts and two blocks at the other end. Jones has six points (three goals, three assists) and is plus-6 in 12 games this postseason.
3. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Yes, the Panthers deserve credit for rallying to win this series in seven games. And Florida clearly proved its championship mettle yet again. But what about the Maple Leafs? This really appeared to be their most complete team, their best playoff roster in the Matthews-Marner-Nylander era. They had more bite, played more north-south, had home-ice advantage the first two rounds. Yet, they couldn’t overcome their past.
The Maple Leafs led the series 2-0 and had a 2-0 lead less than six minutes into Game 3 on the road in South Florida. It really looked like things were different this time. Until they weren’t. Marchand won Game 3 in overtime for Florida, and Toronto lost three straight. But the Maple Leafs didn’t go down easily, winning 2-0 on the road in Game 6. It was set up for them to exorcise their playoff demons at home in Game 7.
But instead they lost 6-1. In fact, they lost Games 5 and 7 at home by identical 6-1 scores. Beyond words unacceptable. Nylander and Tavares each was pointless in the final four games. Marner had one assist in that span. Matthews had the game-winner in Game 6, his only point in the final four contests.
“I’m just devastated right now,” Marner said postgame.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
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