It was the most important game for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 23 years, and they completely surrendered in a 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 7.
Max Domi registered the lone goal for the Leafs, while Brad Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen notched a goal and two assists each for the Panthers. Seth Jones, Sam Reinhart, Jonah Gadjovich and Anton Lundell also scored for the Panthers, who will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals.
“It felt like we were ready to play, it felt like we were in a good mindset,” Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said post-game. “I thought the first ten minutes they came out strong, and the next ten minutes I thought we controlled play, then I just thought we had too many passengers throughout the rest of the game. We just weren’t on the same page.”
Here are five takeaways from the Leafs’ season-ending loss to the Panthers
- Matthews said there were too many passengers, a sentiment that Mitch Marner agreed with post-game. Who are the passengers they were referring to? Matthews and Marner each registered two shots in a closeout game and for many shifts, appeared to be virtually non-existent as the Panthers pummelled the Maple Leafs on home ice. Marner instructed the team to ‘wake the f— up’ after Jonah Gadjovich scored Florida’s third goal, but he played as if he were asleep as well. This very well may be Marner’s final game as a Maple Leaf and if that’s the case, he leaves behind a complex legacy. On one hand, he is one of the 12 most talented players in franchise history. On the other, Marner never delivered in the playoffs and if he elects to test free agency, leaving the Leafs with nothing in return, he may be the most detested athlete in this city since Vince Carter. It’s zero fun to arrive at this conclusion, but these are the circumstances that come with consecutive 6-1 losses on home ice, with a 2-0 win in Game 6 sandwiched in between.
- Although it didn’t lead to any goals, Toronto got jumped from the outset. Florida generated the first 25 scoring chances of the game, before William Nylander finally burst into the offensive zone. Morgan Rielly and Brandon Carlo in particular struggled with basic zone exits, an ugly night for the pairing, where Jake McCabe, Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Simon Benoit certainly aren’t exempt from criticism, either. The mistakes began to compound in the second period. Rielly took a bad angle to the puck, while the Leafs’ top scoring line didn’t backcheck, allowing Seth Jones to waltz in for the opening goal — and it should be noted that Jones was brilliant on Sunday. McCabe was way too slow getting to a rebound that Lundell tucked home for the game’s second goal. Jones picked off a bad pass from John Tavares, raced up the ice, dropped the puck back to A.J. Greer. Greer had enough time to collect his own rebound, sending the puck over to Jonah Gadjovich for the third goal, as Tavares, Nylander and Rielly watched in disbelief. It was a tragic comedy of errors.
- Aleksander Barkov was much better than Matthews in Game 7, and won the head-to-head matchup. Lundell entered the series as the x-factor and more than delivered on his promise, while Eetu Luostarinen is the type of player that the Leafs certainly wished they had. Toronto’s stars were outplayed by Florida’s stars, the goaltending was a dead-even split, and Florida’s defencemen — Jones, Gustav Forsling, Niko Mikkola and Aaron Ekblad, were far superior in the final four games of the series. Credit to the Panthers, they looked ready to repeat as champions.
- The acquisition costs were fine, but it has to be noted that the Leafs’ deadline acquisitions paled in comparison to the Panthers, throughout the series and especially in Game 7. Jones was the best player on the ice, while Brad Marchand led the series with eight points, including an empty-netter on Sunday. Carlo may have been the Leafs’ worst skater in Game 7, while Laughton did not record a goal during the postseason. There are inherent risk for going all-in, but the Panthers took a bigger swing than the Leafs and were richly rewarded in the clutch.
- This may be the end of the Core Four as we know it. Seven years is a long enough term and there was an air of finality in the Leafs’ locker room last night, which may be further confirmed at this week’s end-of-season media availability. John Tavares signed with the Leafs on Canada Day 2018, and there was a premonition that it was just a matter of time before this group lifted the Cup. In two consecutive home surrenders, the Leafs were given proof of how far they really are from winning it all.