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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers square off in a do-or-die Game 7 with a berth in the Eastern Conference final on the line.
Follow our writers from Scotiabank Arena for sights, sounds, analysis and updates from puck drop to the final buzzer.
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How the Maple Leafs forced Game 7 — and how they can win it
By Joshua Kloke and Chris Johnston
The Toronto Maple Leafs are still alive, and another Game 7 is on the horizon.
Auston Matthews scored his first goal in the second round of the playoffs to break a tense stalemate and give the Leafs a grinding 2-0 win.
After being humbled in Game 5, the Leafs came out with the required energy to start Game 6. Multiple Leafs injuries in the second period hung over them, but they kept the Florida Panthers at bay as the Stanley Cup champions pushed midway through the game. Finally, Matthews broke through with a goal that for now will rank as one of the biggest and most necessary of his Leafs career.
Max Pacioretty then sealed the deal with a late third-period goal.
Despite being all but written off after Game 5 and working through a tight Game 6, the Leafs will have another chance to keep their season alive and, once again, begin to change the narrative surrounding their core and recent playoff disappointments.
Read more below.
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Maple Leafs stay alive, force Game 7 with win over Panthers: Takeaways
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Auston Matthews scored eight minutes into his first NHL game. The ensuing nine years saw the Toronto Maple Leafs captain put more pucks in the net than any other player in the league, which is why he arrived at Amerant Bank Arena surrounded by a cacophony of what his teammates typically refer to as “noise.”
Heading into Game 6, Matthews had played 10 games in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs without scoring at all. Of the 110 players in league history with at least 400 goals on their resumes, he was the only one stuck on zero beyond Round 1.
“Big goal’s coming,” his coach, Craig Berube, predicted as questions about Matthews kept coming.
Then with his team’s season on the line, and with the Florida Panthers giving the Maple Leafs all they could handle on Friday night, Matthews finally broke through by a firing shot along the ice that skipped under Sergei Bobrovsky’s stick and through his legs.
Sweet relief.
“I mean, that felt great,” Matthews said.
Read more below.
GO FURTHER
Auston Matthews delivers: Maple Leafs captain finds the net, redemption and relief
The Toronto Maple Leafs are 2-13 in their last 15 series-clinching elimination games. They will get another opportunity tonight to see if they can make that dismal record better.
In these playoffs, the Leafs won their second playoff series in the Auston Matthews era, defeating the Ottawa Senators in six games. Their second series-clinching elimination game win came in Game 6, defeating the Senators 4-2.
The Florida Panthers are 3-1 as a franchise in Game 7s. They've won their last two: in the first round in 2023 where they completed the 3-1 comeback against the Boston Bruins. Then last year in the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers, where they won 2-1.
Can Florida get another Game 7 victory?
The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs won a Game 7 in a playoff series was 2004 in the first round against the Ottawa Senators. Since then, Game 7s haven't been kind to the Maple Leafs.
Toronto is 0-6 in Game 7s in the post-2004 lockout era. In the Auston Matthews era, the Maple Leafs are 0-5. Can they exorcise their Game 7 demons tonight?
Can the Leafs pull off the unthinkable and win a Game 7? Are the Panthers inevitable? Will Auston Matthews show up after scoring in Game 6?
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The NBA and NHL playoffs are heating up with the conference finals around the corner. The NFL offseason rolls on, with the latest development being the 49ers' historic contract extension with quarterback Brock Purdy. And don't forget about global superstars Shohei Ohtani and Lionel Messi as MLB and MLS seasons are well underway!
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Game 7 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers will be played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. When Game 7s are played at Scotiabank Arena, the Maple Leafs are 3-2 as a franchise.
A good omen perhaps, Leaf fans?
Game 7 between the Maple Leafs and Panthers is on TNT in the U.S. and Sportsnet/CBC in Canada.
Puck drop for tonight's Game 7 is 7:30 p.m. ET. That's 4:30 p.m. PT.
Set your clocks, hockey fans.
What's up hockey fans? Welcome to The Athletic's live coverage of tonight's Game 7 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers.
The two greatest words in sports. Game 7. These are the games that make players legends, that propel teams from mediocrity to greatness.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to come back from 3-2 down in this series, after a disappointing Game 5 performance, to dethrone the defending Stanley Cup champs to advance to the Eastern Conference final. Will they final exorcise those Game 7 demons or will the Panthers win yet another playoff series?
Follow along as we build up to tonight's pivotal matchup.
