Game 6 was a disappointing performance from the Cats. They had the chance to close out the series on home ice, but instead got shut out by a strong showing from the Leafs. Florida more than responded in Game 7 and, for the second time this series, beat Toronto 6-1 in the Leafs’ barn. Tkachuk spoke about how Florida’s game is built for Game 7s in his media availability prior to the match. The Panthers showed how true that statement was and at one point held a 21-0 shot attempts advantage in the opening period. Seth Jones had his best game of the series, scoring the opening goal and an incredible secondary assist on the Gadjovich goal. The Cats’ third line dominated a series-clinching game for the second series in a row and is arguably the best third line left in the playoffs. Florida’s team balance was the answer to a top-heavy Toronto team, and the Cats’ defense did what it did best: shut down star talent.
Seth Jones:
There shouldn’t be any more chatter among Florida fans over the Seth Jones trade. He was fantastic in Game 7 and had his best game of the season in the biggest game of the season so far. Props should be given to Bill Zito & his team in the front office for being so excellent at identifying players that fit perfectly into Florida’s system, both hockey-wise and personality-wise. Jones topped the Hockey Stat Cards Game Impact Card for Florida, providing very positive offense and defense. Jones opened the scoring in the second period. Barkov cleared the Florida zone up the ice to Rodrigues. Evan then made the pass to Jones, who created a 2-on-1 chance with Reinhart. Opting to take the shot himself from the circle, he found the back of the net for the 1-0 lead in the second period. He nearly had a second goal later in the period, but it was waived off for goalie interference, even though he was pushed into Woll. His best play of the night was the intelligence he showed when he waited to touch the puck until everyone was onside. He batted the puck into the zone but didn’t touch it again until all tagged up at the blue line. He made the drop pass to Greer, whose shot got saved. But then A.J.’s hard work got him to the rebound first, and he made the pass to Gadjovich, who then scored for the 3-0 lead to end the second period. Overall, it was outstanding work by Jones, and he continues to show how well he fits into Florida’s systems.
Clutch Third Line:
Until the Cats’ third line stops being their best line, I simply have to talk about what an impact they are. Lundell scored just four minutes after Jones broke the ice to make the game 2-0. Marchand got the puck up to Mikkola at the blue line. Niko then passed it down to Luostarinen, who fired a shot towards Woll. Lundell beat the Leafs’ defense to the rebound and put it in the back of the net. Anton was one of four Panthers players to have four SOG; Luostarinen, Jones, and Ekblad were the others. If last season was Lundell’s breakout playoffs, this year’s has been Eetu Luostarinen’s. He came up big during the series clincher against Tampa, and he had another fantastic game in Toronto. Eetu has 7 points in the 30:05 TOI he’s had in the series-clinching games. With a goal and two assists, he put up another 3-point performance. Luostarinen has 11 points in road games, which is the most in the playoffs. A year ago, there were fans wanting Eetu traded because he wasn’t a points producer, but adding Marchand to the line has turned them into an absolute buzzsaw of a line. Luostarinen’s biggest strength is still his defensive game, but it’s so nice to see that he can have an offensive impact with the right linemates. His goal came early in the third period as a response goal to Domi getting Toronto on the board. Eetu’s work along the boards got the puck up to Marchand. Brad then took a shot that Luostarinen tipped in for the 4-1 lead. It was a record-setting Game 7 for Marchand as he is now the first NHL player to win five winner-take-all games against the same franchise. He also joined an exclusive club of most Game 7 wins by a skater, a list that includes players like Joe Pavelski, Ryan McDonagh, and Brad Richards. He scored the empty net goal to make it 6-1 at the end of the game, with the victory that was sewn up in the second period. Through two playoff series, there hasn’t been an opponent answer to how good this line has been over the course of a series.
Florida Depth & Defense Smothers:
After allowing Toronto to get pressure and a couple of breakaways, Florida made defensive adjustments to shut the Leafs down the rest of the game. Their heavy and physical style seems to have worn Toronto out, as it has done to several other opponents in the last couple of years. Look at Game 7 from the Cup Final, Edmonton’s top guys were getting double-shifted for nearly half of the third period and were completely gassed by the end of it. The Cats put bodies on the line and blocked 18 shots; they didn’t give the Leafs much after that first-period pushback. Toronto gave up 12 giveaways and Florida added 7 takeaways to dominate possession. Bob stood tall when the pressure was there and made huge saves on the Leafs’ breakaway chances. He ended the night with a .950 SV%, stopping 19 of 20 shots. After the first couple of games, Bob was rock steady the rest of the way, and Toronto had a difficult time getting pucks past him. Florida’s other two goals came from Jonah Gadjovich putting in a puck from the cross-ice pass and Sam Reinhart scoring right off the faceoff win from Barkov. The Panthers got scoring from every single line during this series, so beating them isn’t a question of which line you shut down; it’s a question of how you shut the whole team down. When they put in an effort like they did in Game 7 and not their Game 6 effort, it’s an extremely difficult task to accomplish and would likely come down to their goalie outplaying Bob that night.
ITR 39: Conference Finals – Inside The Rink
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