Panthers Roll Past Leafs In 7th Game As Ex-Bruin Marchand Soars

The Florida Panthers are not ready to go home for the summer. Paul Maurice’s team took Toronto’s best shot in Game 6 and accepted a 2-0 loss on home ice and moved on. When they went back to the Scotia Bank Arena in Toronto for Game 7, they were ready to play.

The Panthers put on a clinic of how to compete in the playoffs. They won every battle for every loose puck with superior speed and strength. They grabbed hold of the game in the second period and ran the Maple Leafs out of their own building in a 6-1 triumph.

The Panthers have been a brilliant postseason team for the last three years. They made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2023 before they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games. That final may have been a letdown, but the Panthers got all the way to the Finals as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

There was no stopping the Panthers last season, beating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games and that allowed them to win the first Stanley Cup in team history

They have passed the first two tests of the current postseason, defeating their Atlantic Division rivals in the process. They eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games before taking down the Maple Leafs in 7.

This year’s Panthers have gotten a lift from the most unpredictable of sources. Ex-Boston Bruin Brad Marchand is becoming something of a folk hero during his brief stay with the Panthers. He had three points in the decisive game against the Maple Leafs and he is tied with Eetu Luostarinen as the team’s leading postseason scorer with 12 points.

Two-plus months ago, Marchand was the wounded 37-year-old captain of the Bruins. The shocking move at the trade deadline that sent him to the Panthers may propel the Panthers to their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

He is not a guest on the Panthers’ postseason run. He is a legitimate leader and he explained the team’s success against their first two opponents.

“We have a ton of belief in the system that we play and the depth of our group and our experience in these moments,” Marchand said. “Going through it before, it’s invaluable experience when you go through moments like this and you’ve been through them before. And a lot of guys have won Cups. When you win a Cup and you play in some of the games this team played in last year, these are not high-pressure games.”

While the Leafs couldn’t breathe in Game 7 and were decisively outplayed in the defeat, the Panthers simply took care of their business. The more pressure they faced, the better they played as they pursue their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

Hurricanes have been overlooked despite sharp performance

Now they face a team in the Carolina Hurricanes that has the lowest profile of any of the four teams left in the Stanley Cup tournament. Maurice will not allow his players to take the Hurricanes lightly. The Canes disposed of the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals, defeating both rivals in five games.

The Hurricanes don’t have superstars in their lineup. Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho are leading the way with 10 points and Andrei Svechnikov is right behind with nine points. They are also getting great support from Shayne Gostisbehere on the blue line and veteran Taylor Hall.

However, the key may be goalie Freddie Andersen. He has a 7-2 record with a spectacular 1.36 goals against average and an even better .937 save percentage. He has performed better than any other playoff goalie this year, and he could give Canes the edge in this series.

Andersen is no fluke in net. In the last four playoff seasons — one with the Maple Leafs and three with the Hurricanes — his GAA is 1.84, 1.83 2.62 and 1.36.

Dismiss the Hurricanes at your own peril. This is a complete team that scores clutch goals and prevents them in nearly every game they play.