Florida needs to be decisive in offensive zone; Knies will play for Toronto
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TORONTO — Matthew Knies will play for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).
The inclusion of Knies, who was hobbled by a hit from Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola during Toronto’s 2-0 win in Game 6 on Friday, is a relief for the Maple Leafs, who have lost six consecutive Game 7s since defeating the Ottawa Senators 4-1 in the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
Knies is tied for second for Toronto this postseason with five goals, one behind William Nylander. His net-front presence will be key in solving Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who has allowed just three goals in the past three games.
Toronto coach Craig Berube said Knies, who participated fully in the morning skate alongside regular linemates Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, would not be restricted in any way.
“No question (he’s) grown into a heck of a player and how quickly his evolution has been throughout his first couple of years,” Maple Leafs forward John Tavares said. “He’s become a premiere power forward who plays in all situations and has had some key plays and big moments for us already.
“So, it was good to see him out there and getting ready.”
Tavares was missing a tooth while addressing the media after taking a puck in the face during the skate.
“Not the first one I’ve lost,” he chuckled.
Tavares has been on the losing end in Game 7 three times with Toronto; Matthews, Marner, Nylander and defenseman Morgan Rielly have lost five (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024). For his part, Rielly said the Maple Leafs have reset and put that history behind them, choosing to focus on this Game 7 as a new challenge.
“I think it’s exciting,” he said. “I think we did our job to get here, and I think we still have a job to do, but it’s definitely going to be fun to have a Game 7 in Toronto.”
The Panthers are no strangers to playing Game 7s and embrace being in the spotlight in big moments. Last season, they were on the biggest stage in the sport, Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. They defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 for the first championship in their history.
Credit Florida’s resiliency for that.
The Panthers won the first three games of that series only to see Edmonton bounce back with three consecutive victories. On the surface, it seemed the Oilers were carrying all the momentum into Game 7.
But Florida entered that game in danger of becoming the fifth team in NHL history to lose a postseason best-of-7 series after building a 3-0 lead, joining the 1942 Detroit Red Wings, 1975 Pittsburgh Penguins, 2010 Boston Bruins and 2014 San Jose Sharks. It speaks to the Panthers’ mental and physical toughness that they didn’t, traits forward Matthew Tkachuk said should help this time around.
“Our game is built on wearing teams down over the course of a seven-game series, over the course of a game,” Tkachuk said Sunday morning. “It might not show in the first five minutes, but hopefully it shows in an overtime or late in the third.
“Our game is built for a Game 7. We’ve done six games of hopefully hard work and physicality that’ll pay off tonight.”
When it comes to Game 7s, here are some relevant facts, courtesy of NHL Stats:
— The team that scores first is 150-50 (.750) in the 200 all-time (0-2 this season)
— Home teams own a 118-82 (.590) advantage (2-0 this season).
— 104 of the 200 all-time Game 7s (52 percent) have been decided by a one-goal margin, including six of the past seven (1 of 2 this season)
— There have been 36 shutouts, 24 by the home team
The Panthers and the Maple Leafs square off in Game 7 on Sunday
Here’s a breakdown of Game 7:
Panthers: Florida’s offense sputtered in Game 6, partially because it didn’t rely on clogging bodies in front of Toronto goalie Joseph Woll. Part of the reason the Maple Leafs earned the shutout was their margin of blocked shots (31-10). However, as Panthers coach Paul Maurice noted, his team was too slow at directing pucks at the net, hesitating far too many times. Florida is most effective when it is decisive in the offensive zone and will look to get back to that game plan.
Maple Leafs: Sure, Toronto worked hard all season for home-ice advantage, the result of finishing first in the Atlantic Division. As such, the players said they look forward to playing in front of the home crowd in a win-or-go-home game. At the same time, Berube cautioned that his team can’t get caught up in the emotions of the building, which seemed to be the case in a 6-1 loss in Game 5 at Scotiabank Arena. The Maple Leafs tried at times to be too fancy with their breakouts and offensive rushes, resulting in a feast of turnovers. As Berube pointed out, Toronto must play the style of a road game, going north-south, keeping things simple and embracing a low-event blueprint, which was the recipe for its Game 6 win.
Numbers to watch: 50. The number of overtimes that have been played all-time in the 200 Game 7s, a 25 percent rate.
What to look for: Expect the Panthers to come out hard with their patented swarming forecheck in order to set the tone early and take the crowd out of the game. Florida employed that same blueprint in Game 5 and it worked out perfectly, so much so that the fans at Scotiabank Arena started booing the Maple Leafs in the second period. With Toronto having lost six consecutive Game 7s, an early deficit will have spectators quickly adopting the familiar “here-we-go-again” attitude.
“It’s an amazing opportunity. It’s the stuff that you dream about as a kid. I know everybody says that, but you really do. … So, it’s finally here. Who cares how we got here? Down two, up one, it’s the first of four for a reason. So, we’re here. It’s a one-game showdown. I can’t be more excited.” — Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk
“It’s fun. It’s a lot of fun. I can’t wait. It’s going to be … it’s going to be … we’re going to war.” — Maple Leafs forward Max Pacioretty
Jesper Boqvist — Aleksander Barkov — Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer — Tomas Nosek — Jonah Gadjovich
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt — Dmitry Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Jaycob Megna, Uvis Balinskis, Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm
Injured: Evan Rodrigues (undisclosed)
Matthew Knies — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
Pontus Holmberg — John Tavares — William Nylander
Bobby McMann — Max Domi — Max Pacioretty
Steven Lorentz — Scott Laughton — Calle Jarnkrok
Morgan Rielly — Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe — Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit — Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Joseph Woll
Anthony Stolarz
Scratched: Matt Murray, Dakota Mermis, Philippe Myers, Nicholas Robertson, David Kampf, Ryan Reaves, Artur Akhtyamov, Dennis Hildeby
*Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body)
Status report
Rodrigues did not stay out for extra work at the morning skate after missing Games 5 and 6. Panthers coach Paul Maurice said the forward is “feeling good” but would not confirm his status.
