Maple Leafs Saved Their Season Against the Panthers, Perhaps More

For the past couple of days, the Toronto media has skewered the Maple Leafs after they squandered a 2-0 series lead against the Panthers and chased their own fans out of the barn with a lopsided loss in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Not only did patrons leave their high-priced seats in what was a 6-1 loss to the Panthers in droves, but some took to social media showing their distain by burning Maple Leafs sweaters — not just tossing them onto the ice in some sort of expensive protest.

The Toronto media was ready for a funeral on Friday night.

One that never came.

After the Maple Leafs beat the Panthers 2-0 in Game 6 on Friday to force a decisive seventh game Sunday in Toronto, the visiting scribes turned their frowns upside down.

Good thing Paul Maurice does not believe in momentum.

Because going back to Toronto, the Maple Leafs have it.

Auston Matthews went from scorned superstar who had not scored in 10 playoff games against the Panthers to netting the game-winner early in the third period.

Joseph Woll, who wasn’t supposed to be playing but replaced the injured Anthony Stolarz in Game 1, earned his first ever playoff shutout.

Even coach Craig Berube was having a good time.

He coached the St. Louis Blues from last-to-champs in 2019, and has seen a few things.

He liked what he saw on Friday night.

And, now, we have ourselves a winner-take-all game in Toronto.

Stolarz won’t play.

Hey, Woll is 4-1 in five career potential elimination contests.

It was the first time Florida was shut out at home in a playoff game since the New York Rangers did so back in 1997 at the old Miami Arena.

Like Florida did to Toronto two nights earlier, the Leafs stifled every rush.

They held Florida to only 22 shots on goal (a grand total of two came in the first period), and they blocked a whopping 31 shots, the top total for either team in the series.

Toronto had only 17 shots and 42 shot attempts as compared to 81 shot attempts for Florida.

The Leafs made them count.

Matthews’ goal at 6:20 of the third period was all they needed. The resurgent Max Pacioretty added an insurance tally at 14:17 which was the crusher for Florida.

“I just thought we were late getting it off our stick,’’ Maurice said. “I thought we were waiving the gun a lot but didn’t want to pull the trigger. Trying to scare them.”

To Maurice, despite the decisive win in Toronto a game earlier, the game was closer than the score would indicate.

When asked postgame the difference in the past two Toronto efforts he half quipped, “not nearly as much as everybody in this room is going to write.

“They [Toronto] worked hard, they played hard tonight, but I thought that the last game. They got killed in the last game. They didn’t deserve to, in my opinion. We had four knucklers go in … It was a pretty tight game. It didn’t feel like that on the scoreboard but when you watch the game and you look at the analytics, that game, the 6-1 game, was the second-tightest game of the series.”

For the Leafs, this was do-or-die and all that mattered was the W and the chance to go home to try and move on.

Momentum is now on their side.

Berube, who seemed to be having a great time in his postgame presser, was a lot happier than he had been after the previous game.

“There’s always pressure. We came out of the first period, we skated well, on our toes and played our game,’’ he said. “We played a simple game tonight, and we were determined. That stands out for me more than anything: Determination, on our toes skating, moving the puck, doing all the little things right.

“We managed the puck really well tonight in my opinion. We didn’t have many turnovers, got pucks deep, all the simple things.”

For Florida, the story was just the opposite.

It seemed that every time Florida had an opportunity, the shot was blocked, deflected, missed the net, or a pass was off the mark

Four power plays generated but one shot on goal.

Now, the Leafs are back in this thing.

Game 7 means everything.

“That’s what you want to play for, especially when you’re going down 3-2 into an away building,’’ Mitch Marner said. “You want to bring your best and I thought we did. The job is only going to get harder so you can’t be satisfied. You’ve got to take care of yourself, take the rest you need and be ready for a hard game.”

Both teams have plenty of Game 7 winner-take-all experience.

It should be fun.

The winner meets Carolina for the Eastern Conference title.

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: GAME 7

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS 

Best-of-7 Series tied 3-3

• When: Sunday, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
• National TV: TNT/truTV
• National Streaming: MAX
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Series Schedule — Game 1: @Toronto 5, Florida 4; Game 2: @Toronto 4, Panthers 3; Game 3: @Florida 5, Toronto 4 (OT); Game 4: @Florida 2, Toronto 0; Game 5: Florida 6, @Toronto 1; Game 6: Toronto 2, @Florida 0; Game 7: Sunday @Toronto 7:30 (TNT/truTV).
• How They Got Here: Toronto d. Ottawa 4-2; Florida d. Tampa Bay 4-1
• All-time Postseason: Panthers d. Toronto 4-1 (2023 ECS)
• Up Next: Winner vs. Carolina Hurricanes (M2), 2025 Eastern Conference final