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Panthers Advance and Here’s Our Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Second-Round Playoff Series Review

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It came down to one game, Game 7, from Scotiabank Arena. It’s what everyone wanted. Unfortunately for fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, this one, and with it the series, went to the side of the Florida Panthers. As we bring you our Last Word on Hockey series review, you knew when the 2025 Second-Round Eastern Conference NHL Stanley Cup Playoff series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers came down to Game 7 that you could probably expect the unexpected, and you’d be at least half right, half the time anyway.

Leafs and Panthers Second-Round Playoff Series Review

Coming into this one, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice was 5-0 in his career in Game 7s. Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs organization hadn’t captured a Game 7 victory since 2004 versus the Ottawa Senators. You’d hope for the sake of Leaf fans everywhere, that something had to give.

Behind the scenes, the cat and mouse game continued on gameday, as there were a few juicy lineup notes. Matthew Knies and Evan Rodrigues, were both a go. Meanwhile, Jesper Boqvist and Anthony Stolarz wouldn’t be in their respective lineups.

Game 7 Summarizes the Leafs Recent Playoff Appearances

It feels like the Game 7 was a microcosm of the Leafs recent history of the organization, for Leaf fans anyway. By the first commercial break, the Panthers had already 21 shot attempts to their credit. Meanwhile, Toronto’s first shot was a long time coming. However, it was nearly worth the wait, and ended up as a dandy opportunity for William Nylander. A loose puck seemed to follow him to the net. The time was 11:37 gone in the first period. Unfortunately, it really was a sign of things to come.

The first period was capped off by the too many men on the ice penalty as Simon Benoit was coming off, Chris Tanev had to jump on the ice early to prevent a potential breakout rush by the Florida Panthers. However, both penalty killing units came up with a clutch performance. They prevented the Panthers from taking a lead late in the first period of Game 7.

The Leafs, who like picking up a big win in Florida in Game 6 to force a seventh and deciding game, did show their skill and in this one, battled back. By the end of the first, the shots were 8-7 Florida.

Onto the Second Period of the Pivotal Game 7

The second period started out in Florida’s favour. However, there was a damper on the festivities as referee Chris Mooney took a stick to the eye. Thankfully, early reports indicated he is okay, so let’s continue to wish him the best that everything is all right.

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Seth Jones finally broke the ice. The play started with a pinch by Morgan Rielly and the Leafs not having anyone back in support. Moreover, Jones went high, far-side blocker, post-and-in at 3:15 on Leaf backstop Joseph Woll. We might add, he did rip the shot, too.

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It seemed to open the floodgates. Thanks to a fourth-line goal by Jonah Gadjovich not long before halfway through the game, the Panthers were up 3-0. Jones, having made a few key offensive plays, established himself as a potential Game 7 hero. Furthermore, the Panthers ended up outshooting the Buds 18-5 in the second period. The Panthers just seemed like they were hard on pucks and then able to make effective plays with it, once they had it.

Perhaps it ultimately hurt the Leafs chances of a comeback, but the refs had really put their whistles away for this one. It was the kind of example of the tie goes to the defensive team. Meaning that in terms of protecting the net with a little bit of extra freedom.

The Panthers Perspective

You really need to give the Panthers some credit. If you don’t believe it, watch Aleksander Barkov‘s first couple shifts in the third period of Game 7. Unstoppable force doesn’t even begin to paint the picture, the man is superhuman, with a bark louder than his very fine, defensive-zone prowess.

All-and-all, the Panthers proved they were on another level. They are the defending cup champs, and proved it in Game 7, much like they did in Game 5 for that matter.

Everything Went the Way of the Cat

Coming into Game 7, it was a strong possibility that goaltending could be a factor. In the previous three games of the series, the losing team had only combined for three goals. However, you could always make the argument that the first three games of the series depended on the goaltending as well. Except in those situations, it was more of a last man left standing mentality. Not totally unlike the Game 1 of the series, when Woll barely hung on. Stolarz had been looking quite sharp while he was minding the crease.

Game 7 saw Woll trying to backup his 22-save shutout, Game 6 performance. In contrast, 36-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky came up big when called upon stopping 19-of-20 shots in Game 7. After getting down 2-0 in this series initially, he really turned it on.

What’s Next in our Leafs and Panthers Series Review

For Florida, it is onto a battle for the Eastern Conference title against the Carolina Hurricanes. It should be a good one, as both teams playing very intense styles and possess a ton of talent.

As for the Leafs, you know there’s an element of luck not propelling them farther. The franchises’ inability to advance to the third round, is quite impressive given their recent ability to comfortably qualify for the postseason. With major roster decisions looming, you have to think a retool of sorts is in order. This team might not have two of its Core 4, Mitch Marner and John Tavares due to free agency. It’ll be a long season in Leaf land and hopefully they can find the positives from making it to within one game of playing for the conference championship in 2024-25.

Main Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

The post Panthers Advance and Here’s Our Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Second-Round Playoff Series Review appeared first on Last Word On Hockey.