Throughout the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been aiming to prove they can deliver in the postseason.
They gave themselves one more opportunity to do that on Friday night in Game 6 on the road against the Florida Panthers. The Maple Leafs beat Florida 2-0, forcing a Game 7 in Toronto on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews netted a goal early in the third period. Later, Toronto left winger Max Pacioretty scored off a backhanded shot.
“Just a gutsy win all around,” Matthews said in a postgame news conference, per theScore’s Josh Wegman. “I thought we battled hard all three periods. It took until midway through the third to break through, but I thought all throughout our lineup, everybody played hard, everybody competed.”
The Maple Leafs will need more competitive fire to avoid another playoff disappointment.
Despite boasting a talented squad with stars like Matthews, the Maple Leafs have stalled in the playoffs over the past five seasons.
In the first round of the 2021 playoffs, they blew a 3-1 lead to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round. The Tampa Bay Lightning eliminated them in Game 7 in the first round of the following postseason.
Last season, the Boston Bruins beat the Maple Leafs in Game 7 in the first round, their sixth consecutive loss in a Game 7.
With the series heading back to Toronto, however, the Maple Leafs may have a decent chance of snapping that streak. According to NHL.com, they’re 7-3 in Game 7s played at home in their history. Matthews doesn’t seem to care about that.
“The job’s not done yet,” he said.
Clearly, the two-time All-Star wants to lift his team into the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2002. That would help the squad shed the non-clutch label.
