SUNRISE, Fla. — Maybe it was always destined to be this way.
To finally get past their playoff demons, once and for all, the Toronto Maple Leafs would have to win a Game 7 — their sixth try in this particular era.
They earned that chance on Friday night.
“This was similar to a Game 7 tonight,” head coach Craig Berube said after a 2-0 Game 6 victory. “We had to win.”
Getting there took the game they needed from Auston Matthews, the goal they needed above all. It was a flash of vintage Matthews, a wrist shot whipped from 37 feet right through a goalie.
PAPI POTS IT!! pic.twitter.com/MEwgDESKLC
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May 17, 2025
It was the biggest goal of Matthews’ career — 427 goals and counting (including the playoffs) — his first ever in the second round, first ever against the Panthers in a playoff series.
“That’s just such a huge, huge goal,” Max Pacioretty, who added the 2-0 dagger later in the third period, said. “That’s a situation where no one wants to make a mistake. You could feel the tension on both sides there at that point in the game. Just an unbelievable shot from an unbelievable player.”
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The morning of the game, following a brief chat with Berube, Matthews spoke about the need to capitalize on the opportunities he got, to keep shooting most of all. He came out aggressive with his team’s season on the line, with help from Mitch Marner, and ended up with four shots on seven attempts.
His line also dominated when they were out there in a way they hadn’t two nights earlier in Game 6.
It didn’t matter who the Panthers sent their way.
This was more like the No. 1 line that wrecked opponents during the regular season.
“I thought he was very determined tonight,” Berube said of Matthews.
Matthews and Marner were both instrumental in a penalty kill that stuffed the Panthers with every chance they got. Florida was held to one single shot with four opportunities.
Joseph Woll was just a smidge better than Sergei Bobrovsky, too.
The Leafs blocked 31 shots in front of him.
Joseph Woll was just a smidge better than Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 6. (Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
It was another show of the resilience that’s been part of the story with this particular Leafs team all season. The worst game of the season, followed up with what Matthews described afterward as a “gusty, gusty win.”
“I think it’s just a belief in our group and what we’re able to do,” William Nylander, speaking to The Athletic during this series, said of the team’s resilience. “In games where we might be down, I think we have a big belief that we can score goals and come back in games.”
The Leafs arrived in Florida on Thursday afternoon, still wounded by the 6-1 loss in Game 5. Some players walked by the ocean. Some may have even taken a dip.
“We’re always inside,” Simon Benoit said. “Get some fresh air and then go eat with the guys.”
At dinner that night, those conversations varied.
“Some guys want to chat about the game,” Oliver Ekman-Larsson said. “Some guys want to chat about other games. Some guys want to chat about life and important stuff. And some guys want to chat about not-so-important stuff.
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“Everybody’s different,” he said. “But we tried to keep the mood light and obviously have fun with it. Like, you’re in a good spot, you’re lucky enough to be playing in games that matter and that a lot of people would kill for to be in.”
That most definitely includes Game 7, a game that everyone seemed to agree was “fun” but which has been a curse for this particular group since 2018.
They are 0-5.
Minus John Tavares, but with young versions of Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Morgan Rielly, the Leafs were thumped by the Bruins in 2018 and hammered again with Tavares on board in 2019.
In Game 7 against the Canadiens two years later, after frittering away a 3-1 series lead, the Leafs went down 3-0 and never recovered.
They faltered in close games against the Lightning in 2022 and the Bruins last spring, the latter in overtime.
A win wouldn’t change the past, but it would flip the narrative about this team and its inability to get things done in the clutch.
A win would launch the Leafs into the conference finals for the first time since 2002 and keep the franchise’s hopes of winning a Stanley Cup for the first time since 1967 alive.
It might also stave off major organizational change.
Brendan Shanahan would more than likely stick around as team president with a trip to the third round, leaving the front office intact.
It might convince Marner to sign a long-term deal and might also convince that aforementioned front office to keep Tavares around, too.
There would finally be a case, potentially, for running it back.
Another Game 7 loss, on the other hand, and another second-round exit to go with it might finally force major change.
Taking the defending Stanley Cup champions to the brink of the second round might not be enough, shouldn’t be enough, not with a blown 2-0 series lead along with that lowest-of-the-low performance at home in Game 5. Not with all that baggage on top of that.
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Getting it done will likely require a similar performance to Game 6 — and more than the one goal the Leafs managed in each of their past four Game 7s.
Which means, more than likely, the stars showing up and leading the way once again.
Strong outings from Matthews and Marner in Game 6 won’t mean much if they can’t repeat it in a winning effort in Game 7.
In the end though, it won’t matter who scores if the Leafs come out on top.
“We’ve got to come out in Game 7 and do the same things we did tonight,” Berube said. “It’s not fancy. It’s just competing. It’s being direct. It’s simple hockey.”
“A lot on the line,” he added. “Everything’s on the line.”
(Top photo: Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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