The Toronto Maple Leafs saw their 2-0 series lead cut in half by the Florida Panthers on Friday, May 9.
The Panthers defeated the Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime after Brad Marchand scored his second goal of the series. His tally in OT sealed the win in front of a sellout crowd at Amerant Bank Arena.
Toronto tied the game midway through the third period on a goal from defenseman Morgan Rielly, whose shot deflected off Seth Jones and got past Sergei Bobrovsky. Still, the Leafs couldn’t close it out and missed a chance to take a 3-0 stranglehold on the series.
Doubt Creeping in for Maple Leafs Fans
While some fans aren’t concerned after the team’s first loss of the series, others are starting to feel the pressure.
One fan said they need injured goalie Anthony Stolarz to return: “Need Stolarz back.”
Another agreed, “Hopefully Stolarz can come back for Game 5 or else this series is done.”
One fan called out Auston Matthews’ offensive output and his massive contract, saying, “Our 13M centre needs to take over a game offensively…I’m sick of hearing about his defensive metrics when that’s not what we pay him for.”
Another put it bluntly: “Tell me again how Matthews’ stellar defense is helping this team win? He’s paid to score goals and produce offensively—they won Games 1 and 2 despite him!”
This fan offered perspective, saying, “It was too bad because the Leafs were playing a very good OT and then got hemmed in for too long there. It was never meant to be easy against the defending champs and yet we were one break away from going up 3-0.”
And this fan didn’t mince words: “You had this one in the bag and completely gave it away, win the next one or it’s over.”
Maple Leafs Coach Craig Berube Said His Team Wasn’t Direct Enough
After the Panthers scored three goals in the second period, head coach Craig Berube said Toronto wasn’t playing direct enough.
“Yeah, they had a good second,” he said. “We weren’t direct in the second. We turned over too many pucks. We allowed them to come back at us and play their game. We got hemmed in too much. In the third period, we did our thing again. I thought we had a good third. OT is OT.”
Game 4 between the Panthers and Maple Leafs is set for Sunday, May 11, before the series shifts back to Toronto for Game 5.
