Anton Lundell, who started with the winning goal in overtime, reminded everyone who dreams of overtime in the playoffs as a child. Toronto’s head coach gave credit to Florida for Mitch Marner’s ineffectiveness.
The Florida Panthers are close to another big surprise in the NHL. The Panthers previously defeated Boston, who set the record for wins and points in the regular season, and are now firmly in the playoff spot against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On Monday morning Finnish time, Toronto was already close to narrowing the series, but by Anton Lundell initialized by Sam Reinhert old-fashioned brought a 3–2 victory in the overtime.
– I believe that everyone dreams of playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs in overtime in their home arena as a child. It was unbelievable. We had 25 players who wanted to score the winning goal. And “Reino” did it. I am very happy for him, Lundell commented on the success.
The Panthers lead the series 3–0, with four wins required to reach the Eastern Conference finals.
– We have had a lot of players who have stood out at important moments. We all try to implement the same plan and through that we gain much more confidence in tight situations, Reinhart said.
Superstars without goals
Finnish captain Alexander Barkov has got the star players of the Toronto Maple Leafs in a knot. Barkov again managed almost 23 minutes playing against the biggest stars.
Mitchell Marner, Austin Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares were each left without a goal again. None of them have managed to pass Sergei Bobrovsky in three matches.
In the third match of the series, Matthews hit the post in the first minute of the game. He didn’t get the next shot at the goal until five minutes into the third period. Marner, on the other hand, uncharacteristically lost the puck to him twice in his own zone.
Out of the four, for example, Marner scored no less than 11 points in the opening round of the playoffs.
– I give credit to Florida. They play him hard, Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe commented Marner.
– He is a great player: he works and tries. Today’s game was different from the other two. Neither team had much room to attack, Keefe explained.
Bobrovsky shines
Florida head coach Paul Maurice was his own assessment of how his protégés have succeeded in overshadowing Toronto’s super four.
– Bobrovsky. That would be the end of the answer.
Toronto head coach Keefe also praised how the Panthers defended their goal closely. Tavares was also on the same lines.
– They defend really closely. We are trying to get in the middle and we have to find a way to succeed in that, Tavares said.
Tough place in Toronto
The Toronto stars were also in trouble at 5-on-5. The Panthers outshot Matthews 19-9 and Marner 21-7 in the first two sets.
– There were moments in the game when we controlled the game and had good time in the attacking zone. But it wasn’t as big as we needed or as much as we wanted, Matthews commented.
Even if the game doesn’t go their way, according to Matthews, Toronto can’t get discouraged, but continue to work and believe in each other.
– Of course, we are in a bad place. But we can only focus on the next game. Then we have the last chance to win, the star player said.
– We can’t get frustrated. When you get frustrated, things don’t go well at all, Marner said.
In the NHL playoffs, a situation has been seen 204 times where the team has been down 0–3 in the best-of-seven series. For the fourth time, the team has managed to win the series.
The last time that miracle was seen was in 2014, when the Los Angeles Kings knocked out the San Jose Sharks in the 1st round of the playoffs.
Once there has been a rise from 0–3 to win the Stanley Cup. Toronto did that miracle in the 1942 finals against Detroit.