The Florida Panthers have a date with the Carolina Hurricanes, as both the New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs lose their respective Game 5’s to find themselves eliminated from Stanley Cup contention. This Panthers and Leafs series was closer than a 4-1 scoreline would look. However, neither fanbase will take much mind to that.
Toronto Maple Leafs Lose, Panthers Advance
Goaltending Stays Strong
The easy MVP of the series for the Panthers has to go to Sergei Bobrovsky, who stood on his head in multiple games this series. The Maple Leafs didn’t score more than two goals in any of the five games, which is a massive part of only having one win. It wasn’t for a lack of trying either. In Games 2 and 5, the Leafs had lots of really great chances, but just couldn’t find their way past.
For the most part, the only times the Leafs could beat Bob was by a screen shot that he couldn’t see, a lucky bounce that wasn’t expected, or the very odd time a skilled player making a nice play. But generally speaking, anything Bob could see, he stopped.
On the other side, Joseph Woll looked calm, cool, and collected for a rookie with less than 20 NHL games of experience. He stepped in during Game 4 and made some key stops. In Game 5 he played well too, but it wasn’t quite enough. It is hard to imagine the series is too different with Ilya Samsonov in for both games, but we will never know.
Offence Dries Up
The key part as mentioned that saw the Toronto Maple Leafs lose this series is their offence completely dried up. In round one, they scored 23 goals in their six games. However, maybe the warning signs were there. They lost 4-2 and then won Game 6 2-1, making it seven straight games that they failed to score more than two goals. That just won’t cut it.
Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Ryan O’Reilly all went cold together. The one thing that couldn’t happen. Out of the highest-paid players, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly routinely looked the most alive. The Leafs did do a solid job limiting goals against. But as we mentioned, if you are going to play such a low-event style of hockey, you can’t have key mistakes.
And that is the talking point about this Leafs team. They are no longer the fun and young offence-only team we knew from a few years back. The reality is they have changed themselves into a heavier, defensive-minded team that tries to play low-event hockey when their top guys aren’t on the ice. What the leads to is when your top guys are being shut down, you are going to struggle to score. One has to ask if they went too far in the other direction. Or if this is simply some bad luck.
Fierce Forecheck
The Florida Panthers deserve a ton of credit for coming into this series as considerable underdogs, despite knocking off the top team in the playoffs. From the very start, their relentless forecheck wore the Leafs down. Routinely in this series the Leafs struggled to move the puck out of their zone efficiently. And when they finally did, it felt like Florida’s speed on the stretch pass killed them.
Matthew Tkachuk was held relatively quiet used to his normal comparisons. However, he was still very effective. But offensively, this series was led by Anthony Duclair, Aleksander Barkov, and Carter Verhaeghe. Verhaeghe and Duclair both had some clutch rush chances that led to goals, and it was capped off by a Nick Cousins move with a slot shot to end the series.
Looking ahead, this should be an incredibly interesting series between Florida and Carolina. Carolina plays a very similar brand to Florida. Hard forecheck, use your bodies to create chaos and that is how you get chances. This should be an insanely high-speed series.
Toronto Maple Leafs Lose, Where Now?
This Maple Leafs team will once again face some massive questions heading into the summer. Yes, they finally got past round one. But the fashion in which they lost round two may not be enough to keep this team together. Sheldon Keefe appears to have the hottest seat, with his inability to change the style of play effectively enough in a few series the Leafs have had now. Kyle Dubas was praised for his deadline and rightfully so, but still doesn’t have a contract. Does he return?
But the biggest question of all is, what happens with the core? Even admitting this series should have been longer than five games, it seems impossible to justify once again running it back with the core five players. Nylander has been the media’s number-one pick to trade since before he even debuted, but it may be smarter to look elsewhere.
Regardless, O’Reilly is a UFA and they need to see how they can fit him. The defence core will be pretty similar next year but will get some tweaks as well. The goaltending is a complete question mark. One has to think Woll proved that he deserves a chance as a 1B guy next year, and ideally, they could bring someone like Samosov back. However, Matt Murray and his deal is still on the books too. What happens with that?
Tale of Two Teams
While the Toronto Maple Leafs lose this series, one thing that possibly could give fans some comfort is looking at the team that beat them. Florida was ironically in a very similar position last season. They won a President’s Trophy, went all-in at the deadline getting Claude Giroux and Ben Chiarot (O’Reilly and Jake McCabe), finally got over the hump and won a round, just to be swept in round two. They ended up firing their coach and trading away their second-best forward for Tkachuk.
A move that has worked out in spades. Obviously, it is unlikely a Tkachuk type will be readily available. But the fact that no one saw that trade coming is the point. Maybe Toronto needs to get uncomfortable and float a name they haven’t out before.
One thing is for sure, even with much-needed changes, this Leafs team can still keep their competing window open. For Florida, the time is now. The Hurricanes are a deadly team but are missing some of their top players. The Panthers have already beaten two of the top teams from the regular season, why not make it three?
Main Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
