‘Opportunity to make a name for ourselves again’: Panthers-Maple Leafs comes down to Game 7
The Florida Panthers couldn’t finish off the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Now, it’s do or die for both teams.
After the Maple Leafs’ 2-0 win over the Panthers on Friday at Amerant Bank Arena, this second-round Stanley Cup playoffs series comes down to a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., with the game broadcast on TNT and truTV while available for streaming on Max. The winner advances to the Eastern Conference final to play the Carolina Hurricanes for a spot in the Stanley Cup Final.
“It’s an opportunity to to make a name for ourselves again,” star Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk said. “We enjoy these games and enjoy these moments.”
They have been in these moments before.
Two postseasons ago, the Panthers squeaked into the playoffs as the last team in the Eastern Conference only to rattle off a playoff run to remember. They upended the Boston Bruins, a team that had the best regular season in NHL history, in seven games by rallying back from a 3-1 series deficit before topping both the Maple Leafs and Hurricanes to get to the Stanley Cup Final.
Last postseason, Florida once again reached the Final but nearly choked away the Stanley Cup by losing three consecutive games to the Edmonton Oilers after mounting a 3-0 series lead before winning Game 7 2-1.
Now, they look to lean on that experience — not necessarily how the games unfolded, but the feeling of knowing their season comes down to one game — as they go through it one more time.
“We’ve played Game 7s before,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said postgame. “We’re not going to show any video of those Game 7s. We’ll look at our game and see where we can get better.”
The simplest course of action after Friday: Get more pucks to the net.
The Panthers had 81 shot attempts in Game 6, but only 22 of those got to the net. Toronto blocked 31 shots. The rest missed the net either high or wide.
The power play went 0 for 4, with Florida managing just one shot on goal in more than seven-and-a-half minutes playing on the man advantage.
And even when they did get pucks to the net, Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll wasn’t tested often en route to a shutout. The Panthers had just four high-danger shots on goal.
Panthers forward Tomas Nosek said they weren’t patient with the puck. Captain Aleksander Barkov said they didn’t have good enough chances to score. Maurice said he saw a team that “didn’t want to pull the trigger” more often than not.
That needs to change, and fast.
“We’ve got to start looking for more sticks,” Tkachuk said. “We’ve got some great scorers and great shooters in here, but they’ve got some great defense and obviously a great goalie right now. Not many times at this point of the season are you going to beat guys clean.”
Florida has shown the potential to score all postseason. They have 17 players who have found the back of the net this postseason, more than any of the other 15 teams who made the playoffs. They have world-class shooters who have shown they can elevate their game when it matters the most.
Can they do it on Sunday?
“It’s just [play] as simple as possible, over and over again for a full 60 minutes,” Barkov said. “Just keep doing the same thing and good things happen. We know exactly how to do it. We just need to get a good start and get going.”
And play like they have nothing to lose -- because, after all, they don’t.
“They’re free,” Maurice said of the feeling of Game 7s. “They are. All the energy you’ve got with no concern about tomorrow. You’ve talked about your game enough all year that everybody understands the game that you’re going to try to play. You don’t need a lot of extra coffee. You’re ready to go.”
If the Panthers aren’t, there season will be coming to an end on Sunday.
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