Matthews’ moment in Game 6 puts Leafs’ existential questions on hold

No time left for rationalizations. No more promises to be better. No more reiterating refrains about “believing in our group.” The Toronto Maple Leafs had no margin for error on the road for Game 6 against the Florida Panthers, trailing 3-2 in the series, trying to avoid ending the season by dropping four straight after winning Games 1 and 2.  

Whatever urgency was missing in Toronto’s pitiful Game 5, it was there in a strong opening stanza of Game 6 at Amerant Bank Arena. The Leafs skated as hard as they had in a week. They outshot the Panthers 7-2 and held a 13-4 edge in scoring chances and 9-0 margin in high-danger chances at 5-on-5. Toronto fervently killed off two penalties. Perhaps most notably, the maligned top line of Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, which had its clock cleaned in Game 5, looked extremely dangerous.

But the playoffs aren’t always fair. They will punch you in the gut or, in Knies’ case, somewhere in the hip region. Late in that period, not long after Bobrovsky had denied a golden Knies chance in the shot, Knies got hurt while letting up on a check and taking a reverse hit from Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola. The Leafs played their best period since Game 3 but left without a lead and their top power forward hobbled.

That seemed to reverse to the momentum for much of the second period, which looked a lot more like Games 4 and 5, with the Panthers applying constant pressure on the forecheck and, thanks to deft pinching from their D-corps, hemming the Leafs in. The Leafs were back to holding on for dear life, relying on timely rebound control from goaltender Joseph Woll. Knies alternated skating gingerly and sitting out shifts. Matthews briefly headed to the dressing room after catching an errant stick from Aleksander Barkov. The series continued taking a physical toll at every turn, and the Leafs once again looked like a team full of players who have never made it this far in the postseason and simply had no energy left against the defending Stanley Cup champs.

But even the teams that persevere in the postseason every year experience these challenges: the injuries, the surprising letdown games, the star players’ performances called into question, the missed calls. It’s what you have to overcome if you want to lift the Stanley Cup. And for Game 6, at least, the Leafs found that spirit.

At 6:20 of the third, Marner stripped defenseman Aaron Ekblad at the Florida blueline and fed Matthews, who walked into the offensive zone and uncorked the trademark wrister he’s been missing the entire postseason, beating Bobrovsky. Finally, the team’s superstar delivered his moment: his first career second-round goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“Regardless of where he’s shooting from, there’s always a chance it goes in,” Marner told reporters after the game. “It’s a goal-scorer’s goal.”

Roughly eight minutes later, before any collective breath holding could begin, left winger Bobby McMann, who has struggled to find his offense all postseason, picked an ideal time to deliver a perfect saucer pass to a streaking Max Pacioretty, who redirected the puck past Bobrovsky to give Toronto a 2-0 lead.

Toronto withstood the predictable late push from the Panthers, thanks in particular to Woll. He found pucks in traffic and smothered them time and again, stopping 22 shots for his first playoff shutout. He improved to 4-1 with a staggering .957 save percentage across five elimination games in his NHL career.

“The biggest feeling right now is a lot of confidence in our group,” Woll told Sportsnet after the game. “Backs against the wall, we came out and played our best game of the series and played structured, really prioritized defense and stuck to our game plan, kept it tight, guys selling out and putting their body on the line, and it was pretty special.”

So what does the forcing Game 7 mean for the Leafs? It quiets the critics for two days and no more. They’ve won multiple Game 6s in Matthews/Marner era. But when will they become a Game 7 winner for the first time? And can they do it if Knies isn’t healthy enough to play? Berube didn’t have any answers on Knies’ status after the game.

As much as the Leafs found a killer instinct against the Ottawa Senators after a wobble in Round 1…as impressive as the Leafs looked early in the series against the Panthers…and as gutsy their road win was Friday night…if they flop at home Sunday, they’ll end their season as the same team that hasn’t reached an Eastern Conference Final since 2001-02.

And that will put most of their roster in the crosshairs as GM Brad Treliving navigates what to do next. But thanks to the Leafs’ courageous collective effort in Game 6, it’s a conversation that can wait until at least Sunday.

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POST SPONSORED BY bet365

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