Matthews scores for Toronto, Maple Leafs force Panthers into winner-take-all Game 7
All throughout their second-round Stanley Cup playoffs series, the Florida Panthers had managed to keep Toronto Maple Leafs star center Auston Matthews from scoring.
On Friday, at the most inopportune time for Florida, Matthews finally struck — and now this series remains alive.
Matthews’ goal 6:20 into the third period gave the Maple Leafs the lead for good in a 2-0 win over the Panthers in Game 6 at Amerant Bank Arena to even the best-of-7 series at 3-3.
The winner-take-all Game 7 is at 7:30 p.m. Sunday from Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
“They played really well,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “They defended well. We couldn’t score. We didn’t have good enough chances to do it, so obviously disappointing right now, but we have a good chance chance in two days in Toronto.”
After two scoreless periods to begin the game, Matthews opened scoring when he picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, pushed forward and fired a quick wrist shot from the left circle that beat Sergei Bobrovsky five-hole.
It was Matthews’ first goal in 11 career playoff games against the Panthers after being held scoreless in all five games of the teams’ second-round series in 2023 and each of the first five games of this series.
Max Pacioretty added an insurance goal for Toronto with 5:43 left in regulation.
And it came after neither team was able to capitalize on a slew of chances through the first 40 minutes. Florida and Toronto combined for 82 shot attempts in the opening two periods, with the Maple Leafs the aggressors in the first period and the Panthers dominating the second but to no avail for either side.
Florida had just 21 shots on goal Friday despite having 80 total shot attempts. Of those 80, Toronto blocked 31 and another 28 missed the net either high or wide.
And Joseph Woll stopped all 21 of those shots he did face to get the shutout. It was Florida’s first time being held scoreless in the playoffs since May 23, 2022, when they were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round — and also the last playoff game they played before hiring Paul Maurice as head coach.
“We didn’t get the puck there early enough,” Maurice said. “We launched it a bunch of time, but I thought we were just late.”
And now, it all comes down to one game. The Panthers had already rallied to make this a series, coming back after dropping the first two games of the set by winning three in a row.
Do they have one more burst in them?
“At the end of the day, we were down 2-0 in this series, so we would’ve loved a Game 7 and this opportunity,” Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk said. “We’re not going to sit here and pout about it. It’s an opportunity to make a name for ourselves again. We enjoy these games and enjoy these moments.”
This story was originally published May 16, 2025 at 10:32 PM.
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