RECAP: Panthers 6, Maple Leafs 1

TORONTO – Never bet against the Cats in a big game.

Punching their third straight ticket to the Eastern Conference Final, the Florida Panthers took care of business in a 6-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday.

Working to defend their Stanley Cup, they are the sixth reigning champion to reach the Conference Finals since 2010.

“We know there’s a tremendous amount of work left,” forward Sam Reinhart said.

At the start of the first period, the Panthers rarely let go of the puck.

By the time the ice crew came out, the Panthers were leading 21-0 in shot attempts through the first 6:33 of action, but couldn’t convert on any of their chances to secure an early lead.

After surviving that early push, the Maple Leafs went on the offensive.

Just past the midway point of the period, Sergei Bobrovsky was suddenly thrust into the fray when he had to come up with a huge stop on William Nylander from the doorstep.

Later, Bobrovsky stopped both Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz on breakaways.

“You stick with your game, you see what comes and you try to give yourself the best chance to stop it,” Bobrovsky said. “It’s big moments, but I thought the guys didn’t give up much.”

Despite trailing 31-17 in shot attempts, Toronto led 10-9 in scoring chances in the period.

“We own the first 10 minutes of the first period, and they own the second 10 minutes,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “If you flip it, you say they came out right. We came out right, and they found the answer to come back at us. That’s the truth. … It’s so much closer than you think. You’re (the media) going to kill these guys (the Maple Leafs), and they don’t deserve it.”

In the second period, the Panthers regained momentum.

With Reinhart cruising down the slot and --- rightfully so -- drawing a lot of attention from the Maple Leafs, Seth Jones kept the puck for himself on a rush play and fired a shot past Joseph Woll from the right circle to break the ice and make it 1-0 at 3:15.

Back after missing two games with an injury, Evan Rodrigues had the primary assist.

“It was a great little inside play,” said Jones, a key deadline acquisition in March. “I was just trying to join the rush, be aggressive and try to find an opening and put a puck to the net. It was a tight game. I’m trying to make a difference offensively and defensively when I can.”

A little over four minutes after Jones opened the scoring, Anton Lundell doubled the lead for the Panthers when he pounced on a rebound and sent it past Woll to make it 2-0 7:18.

Capping off the second-period scoring spree for the Panthers, Jonah Gadjovich -- following a great play by Jones at the blue line to keep the play on-side -- took a slick cross-ice pass from A.J. Greer and ripped it into the back of the cage to make it 3-0 at 9:39.

All three goals came within a span of just 6:24.

According to NHL PR, only five other teams in the past 35 years have scored three goals in a Game 7 in a faster span, with the last being the San Jose Sharks in Round 1 back in 2019.

“You always dream of playing in Game 7’s,” Lundell said. “It’s been such a hard series, so we knew it was going to be a hard game as well. We needed a good game for the win. We trusted that we’d get that chance, and then finally we got a couple goals and momentum.”

Initially appearing to add a fourth goal, Jones had what would’ve been his second strike waived off right away after he went crashing into Woll prior to the puck crossing the line.

Given that it was a Toronto skater that drove him into Woll, it likely should’ve counted.

Regardless, the Panthers had a surgical second period, leading 17-5 in shots and 16-4 in scoring chances.

Not going down without a fight, the Maple Leafs got on the board early in the third period when Max Domi fired a wicked shot through Bobrovsky’s five-hole to make it 3-1 at 2:07.

But just as quickly as the comeback attempt began for Toronto, so it ended.

Less than a minute later, Eetu Luostarinen tipped in a shot from Brad Marchand, who entered the night 4-0 in his career against Toronto in Game 7’s, to make it 4-1 at 2:54.

Breaking out, Luostarinen leads the NHL in road playoff points with 11.

“I’m really happy for him,” Lundell said of his longtime linemate. “We’ve been playing a lot together. I’ve been following him very closely over the past years. It’s cool to see how he steps up when the team kind of needs him the most. You can see he's got some confidence.”

Refusing to let the Maple Leafs get back in the game, the Panthers padded their lead even further when Reinhart sent some fans to the exits when he took a faceoff win from Aleksander Barkov and threaded a long wrist shot straight past Woll to make it 5-1 at 9:24.

Poetically, the final nail in the coffin belonged to Marchand.

Appearing in his 13^th Game 7 of his career -- the most among active NHL players -- the 37-year-old veteran fired a long shot into Toronto’s empty net to make it 6-1 at 16:57.

Improving to 5-0 against the Maple Leafs in Game 7’s, he logged three points (one goal, two assists) in the win.

“When you have a veteran group and guys that have been through big moments before, everyone just goes about their business,” Marchand said of fitting in so seamlessly with the Panthers. “It’s very easy to fall into place and just do your role. It’s a special group.”

Improving their all-time record to 4-1 in Game 7’s, the Panthers will now prepare for a rematch with the Carolina Hurricanes, who they previously defeated in four hard-fought games in the 2023 Eastern Conference Final.

But after pulling off another win to remember, they can worry about that tomorrow.

“Every trip brings different adversity,” Bobrovsky said. “Obviously, we have a great group of guys, experienced guys, hard-working guys, big hard guys. It’s always fun to be part of this group. The guys are mature and experienced. We’re going to face another good challenge. Carolina is a great team. They play tight. It’s going to be another good challenge for us.”

THEY SAID IT

"Game 7’s are player games. We're at Game 94 for this year. There's not much coaching. We've been doing it for 93 games coming in. There's nothing new. No new tactics." – Paul Maurice

“We have a ton of belief in the system that we play and the depth of our group and the experience in these moments. Going through it before, it’s invaluable experience when you go through moments like this and you’ve been through these moments before.” – Brad Marchand

“It was a great team effort today. We prepare for seven games. We knew Toronto is a great team. They played unreal. We had to really battle every game. We had to battle for every win. It was tight games.” – Anton Lundell

“I like how we kept our game right through the end. We didn’t change anything. We were on our toes. The gap was tight, and that’s how we’ve got to play.” – Sam Reinhart

CATS STATS

- Brad Marchand recorded two assists to increase his career total to six in Game 7’s, which is tied with Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin for the most among active NHL players.

- Eetu Luostarinen has recorded a total of six points (2G, 4A) in two series-clinching games this postseason.

- The Panthers took no penalties.

- Aleksander Barkov won a team-high 11 faceoffs.

- Florida’s third line of Anton Lundell, Brad Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen combined for seven points (3G, 4A).

- A.J. Greer and Sam Bennett each recorded a team-high seven hits.

- Anton Lundell blocked a team-high four shots.

- The Panthers led 85-55 in shot attempts at 5-on-5.

- Sergei Bobrovsky made four high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT’S NEXT?

See you in Raleigh!

Starting the Eastern Conference Final on the road, the Panthers will battle the Hurricanes in Game 1 at Lenovo Center on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.

For watch party information, stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com/CatsOnTap.