Credit to the Toronto Maple Leafs. When the heat was turned up, they delivered, led by their star players, their goaltender, and a depth player who needed a favourable bounce more than anybody.
After two periods of lockjaw hockey, featuring a good first period from the Leafs and a not so good second, Auston Matthews opened the scoring for his first goal of the series and his first against the Florida Panthers in the playoffs. Not long after, Bobby McMann, who hadn’t recorded a point since Game 1 against the Ottawa Senators in the first round, fed Max Pacioretty with a slick saucer pass, to which he converted on to collect the insurance goal.
Perhaps more deserving of postgame love than anybody, Joseph Woll stopped all 22 shots he faced to collect a shutout, making him the first Leafs goalie to get a shutout when facing elimination since Curtis Joseph. It was a low-shooting affair overall, but he was as sturdy as his team could have asked him to be and made all of the important stops despite multiple instances where the Panthers hemmed them in their own zone. For the Maple Leafs to have this type of game-saving ability from not one, but both of their goaltenders is a luxury that fans may sometimes take for granted.
One way or another, it always felt like this series was going to go seven games. It was either going to be a bad loss in Game 5 and a grind-it-out win in Game 6, or a win in Game 5 and a loss in Game 6. The former happened, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody regardless of how badly they mailed it in for Game 5. The fact that Matthews and Marner were the ones to propel it is going to serve as an extra vote of confidence as the Maple Leafs embark to face their biggest demon of all, a Game 7, on home ice this coming Sunday.
Game 7 could potentially decide the future of this organization. If they win, they will face the Carolina Hurricanes for a conference final rematch after the two teams met in 2001-02 and they’ll get a fresh start of sorts. If they lose, there will be some tough questions asked about the future of this organization as Mitch Marner and John Tavares both face expiring contracts. You will not want to miss this one.
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