Maple Leafs recover, get full team effort in Game 6 victory

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For all of the criticism the Maple Leafs took after Game 5, throw nothing but praise their way after Game 6.

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Lots of it.

The Leafs took coach Craig Berube’s words to heart on Friday night in beating the Florida Panthers 2-0 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla.

There were some blips, but for the most part, the Leafs played a textbook road playoff game against the defending Stanley Cup champions following their worst effort of the post-season 48 hours earlier.

Don’t overthink it, Berube said during his media availability before the Leafs flew to Florida on Thursday afternoon. Just go play hockey.

The Leafs did exactly that.

It had to be captain Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner who made the difference, too, didn’t it? It absolutely had to be.

So it went, as Matthews scored his first goal of the series on a pass from Marner early in the third period. The Game 6 winner.

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It didn’t turn out to be what many expected, that this would be Marner’s last game with the Leafs. If the Leafs win Game 7 on Sunday night, maybe don’t go writing off Marner’s future with the franchise. He was excellent on Friday and didn’t play like he has one foot out the door toward taking advantage of being a free agent this summer.

Thought he was not besieged at any point, much credit goes to goalie Joseph Woll. He shrugged off being pulled in Game 5 and was confident from his first save, finishing with 22. The Panthers had few second chances at the Leafs net.

The Leafs will play their 28th Game 7 in franchise history on Sunday. They have a record of 12-15 in the previous 27.

If they play the way they did on Friday night, a lucky 13th win just might be their reward.

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A victory would pit the Leafs against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final, 23 years after the teams met in the same playoff round. The Leafs of today against their former goalie, Frederik Andersen? What a potentially intriguing subplot.

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PATCHING IT UP

This is why the Leafs waited on veteran forward Max Pacioretty last summer, invited him to training camp on a professional tryout and signed him on the eve of the regular season.

For games like this, and for coming up big in games like this.

His goal with under six minutes to play provided a two-goal cushion that the Panthers had no chance of overcoming.

In 11 minutes of ice time, the 36-year-old Pacioretty was key in several areas, recording three of the Leafs’ 17 shots on goal and throwing three hits. He also blocked two shots.

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“We showed a lot (after what happened in Game 5),” Pacorietty told media in Florida.

“I’ve been in that situation more than a lot of the guys and it’s really easy to get frustrated or deviate from the plan.

“But we were really patient in our game, weathered the storm halfway through the game and then found our legs again. The ebbs and flows of playoff hockey is about staying patient. We were able to do that.

“We just knew we had so much better. Tonight wasn’t perfect. It never is in the playoffs, but when you’re able to flush a game like that, a lot of times you come out with a little bit more energy.”

Pacioretty knows about making a difference in pivotal games. He scored the series winner in Game 6 of the first round against Ottawa. He has two Game 7 winning goals in his career. The first came in 2014 for the Montreal Canadiens against the Boston Bruins in the second round; the second came in 2021 for the Vegas Golden Knights against the Minnesota Wild in the first round.

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What do the words “Game 7” mean to Pacioretty?

“It’s fun … it’s a lot of fun,” Pacioretty said. “I can’t wait. It’s going to be … we’re going to war.”

GAME ON

Bobby McMann’s assist on Pacioretty’s goal was his first point of the playoffs since he had an assist in Game 1 against Ottawa. “It’s cool, it’s fun, you fee good about contributing,” McMann said. “You feel good to be a part of it and be part of a big goal like that.” … Marner forced Florida defenceman Aaron Ekblad into a turnover at the Panthers blue line, leading to a pass to Matthews and the 1-0 goal at 6:20 of the third … Matthews took a few strides, ignored the presence of Gustav Forsling in front of him and beat Sergei Bobrovsky between the legs. We hate to say it, but it was vintage Matthews … The Leafs had 21 blocks from their defencemen, led by Chris Tanev’s six. Simon Benoit and Oliver Ekman-Larsson had four each, Morgan Rielly and Jake McCabe three and Brandon Carlo one. Toronto had 31 blocks in total … Steven Lorentz played 10 minutes 32 seconds, the lowest ice time among Leafs, yet led the club with six hits … The Panthers had no shots on goal while Carlo served a hooking minor, called at 8:49 of the third … Matthew Knies wasn’t able to make his usual impact after he was on the wrong end of what amounted to a reverse hit from Panthers defenceman Niko Mikkola late in the first period. Knies was in pain at the bench as he favoured his right side and missed some shifts … The Leafs were able to ward off several hard-charging Panthers shifts in the second period and the teams went into the second intermission without a goal on either side … Benoit had consecutive shifts that were more than two minutes in length in the second. On one of them he crushed Brad Marchand with an open-ice hit … Referees Jean Hebert and Garrett Rank missed a high stick by Aleksander Barkov on Matthews on a second-period faceoff. Matthews was penalized not long after for a less-egregious high stick on Ekblad … The Leafs didn’t have many great scoring chances in the second, but Scott Laughton made a fine play to set up William Nylander at the crease. Later, Seth Jones broke up a 2-on-1 that featured Max Domi and McMann … Through 40 minutes, the Leafs didn’t score on two power plays and the Panthers failed to score on three. Toronto on the penalty kill did a nice job of collapsing in front of Woll … Unlike Wednesday night in Toronto, the Leafs weren’t nervous in the opening 20 minutes. If you subtract the fact the Leafs didn’t score, it was a solid period for the club … Not only did the Leafs kill off two penalties in the first period, they carried the play afterward. Knies had a great chance on a backhand after taking a Marner pass, but Bobrovsky got his left pad on the shot … A hit by Marner on the forecheck resulted in another Leafs opportunity … Florida had just two shots on goal in the first — one on a power play and one at five-on-five … McMann crashed the net and accidentally-on-purpose landed on a prone Bobrovsky. It was the kind of tenacity we expected from McMann from the start of the playoffs, but it has been rare … One of Rielly’s best assets is the ability to recover when he has been caught down the ice. That happened late in the first when he pinched and managed to get all the way back to get his stick on an Eetu Luostarinen shot, sending the puck over the net … There was Domi, who was strong all night, with some disciplined defensive hockey, chipping the puck out of the way as Sam Reinhart had an open net in his sights … The Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk, post-game: “They played really well. Back to the drawing board, I guess. We were down 2-0 in this series. You would have loved a Game 7 and this opportunity. We’re not going to sit here and pout about it. It’s an opportunity to make a name for ourselves again. We enjoy these moments and hopefully we’re going to be ready to go.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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