The Toronto Maple Leafs took a tough Game 3, overtime loss, 5-4, to the Florida Panthers on Friday night at Amerant Bank Arena.
The Leafs, instead of going up 3-0 in their second-round series with the Cats, now face some pressure as their lead has shrunk to 2-1. While the Leafs are hardly in dire straits, they will need to regroup and play another solid game in order to regain control over the series.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the three main takeaways from the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Game 3 overtime loss on Friday night.
3 main takeaways from Toronto Maple Leafs' Game 3 loss to Florida Panthers
The Leafs came out flying, then took their foot off the gas
The Toronto Maple Leafs came flying out of the gate. They took the early lead, 23 seconds in the game as Matthew Knies popped home his fifth of the postseason.
Here’s a look at the goal:
Knies capitalized on a brief lapse in the Panthers’ defense, allowing him to pick up a loose puck. The goal set the tone for a solid first period that also saw John Tavares add one of his own.
After building a 3-1 lead in the second period, the Leafs took their foot off the gas and allowed the Panthers to get back into the game. The Cats tied the game with two goals 63 seconds apart.
Then, the Panthers took the lead on a fourth-line goal.
Moving forward, Game 3’s biggest lesson will be to play a full 60 minutes as Florida is not a team that can be left to die.
Leafs showed critical resilience after blowing lead
One of the biggest markers of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ change this postseason has been their resilience. That was on display following the Leafs’ blown lead.
After Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe scored back-to-back goals in the second, the Leafs regrouped and played a decent rest of the second period. While the Panthers took a 4-3 lead late in the period, we didn’t see the Leafs of other years; the team that would crumble and let the blown lead get to them.
In years past, the Leafs would have caved and the game would have turned into a 7-3 blowout.
Toronto, this time around, got it together and managed to tie the game on a lucky bounce. They held on, killing off a late penalty, and then had their chances in overtime. The series could easily be 3-0 if not for Sergei Bobrovsky stopping William Nylander and Matthew Knies on breakaways in overtime.
The Leafs deserve a ton of credit for keeping their composure and playing a tremendous game.
The power play continues to strike
John Tavares scored his fifth of the postseason, a power play goal in the second period to give the Leafs a 3-1 lead. The goal was crucial as the Leafs' power play had stalled in the latter half of the series against Ottawa and the first game against the Panthers.
Here’s a look at the tally:
The Leafs' power play is now 2-for-7 in the last two games and looks like it could be heating up. The power play will become more important than ever as the Panthers don’t look like they’ll be going away quietly.
The Leafs and Panthers will clash for Game 4 on Sunday night with Toronto looking to take a 3-1 series lead back to Canada.