The Toronto Maple Leafs played a tremendous bounce-back game on Friday night, shutting out the Florida Panthers 2-0 in Game 6 at Amerant Bank Arena.
The Leafs had their back to the wall, playing their first elimination game this postseason. And, the Buds roared back to force a Game 7 on Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Auston Matthews got the monkey off his back, scoring his first of the series. Timeless vet Max Pacioretty channeled his inner hero notching his third of the postseason to add insurance to the Leafs’ lead.
But the biggest story of the night was Joseph Woll’s scintillating 22-save performance as he found redemption following Game 5’s stinker.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the three key takeaways from the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Game 6 shutout win over the Florida Panthers on Friday night.
3 key takeaways from Toronto Maple Leafs Game 6 shutout win over Florida Panthers
The Leafs played a solid all-around game
Much of the discussion surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs’ three losses in this series has been focused on their lack of discipline.
Whatever had been plaguing the Leafs did not appear in Game 6. The team kept a level head and played a focused, hard-nosed game. There were no sloppy plays, no silly turnovers, and, most importantly, they avoided needless penalties.
The stat I found most interesting was the Leafs’ 31 blocked shots. If even a fraction of those shots had gotten through, the score could have been much different. Kudos to Auston Matthews for blocking four shots, Simon Benoit for four, and Chris Tanev for taking six for the team.
Overall, the Leafs stifled the Panthers, leaving them with very little room to maneuver. That trend will hopefully carry over to Game 7 on Sunday night.
Joseph Woll bounced back like a champ
Joseph Woll bounced back like a world-championship fighter after taking a knockout punch. Instead of crawling into a corner and dying, Woll hit the ice, getting his first career playoff shoutout.
If there was ever a time for Woll to get it, Game 6 was it.
Woll was sharp throughout the night and stood tall down the stretch. The Panthers went for the equalizer, pulling Sergei Bobrovsky with about three minutes to go in the third period. But it wasn’t enough to get past the Brick Woll in Game 6.
Auston Matthews had a whale of a game
Auston Matthews has been unfairly criticized for his lack of scoring in the second round. But what hasn’t been evident is his brilliant, all-around game. In fact, I would venture that Matthews has become a superior two-way center to Sasha Barkov, high stick notwithstanding.
Be that as it may, Matthews picked the best time to get his first goal of the series. Matthews’ goal opened the scoring in the third period and proved to be the game-winner.
Here it is:
The goal started on a Florida turnover that Mitch Marner, of all people, translated the miscue into a huge feed to Matthews.
Max Pacioretty also deserves an honorary mention, as his goal padded the Leafs’ lead.
Here’s the goal:
Bobby McMann deserves a ton of credit as he made Gustav Forsling look like a kindergartener on the play. It was the second time the Leafs burned Forsling on the night.
All told, the Leafs are poised to turn their 3-2 series deficit into the team’s biggest win in recent history. Everything will come to a head in Sunday night’s Game 7.