“Play your ass off. See what happens.” — Paul Maurice, debunking killer instinct
SUNRISE, Fla. – The contrast could not be starker.
In one corner, you have juggernaut-toppling eighth seed that is splashing around house money and laughing its way through the second round to the tune of a 3-0 series lead. The Florida Panthers will roll all the same lines, start the same hot goalie and bring their brooms to FLA Live Arena Wednesday night.
In the other corner, gasping on the ropes, sits the Toronto Maple Leafs, with their tight body language and offensive dry spell. They are tweaking the forward lines, abandoning some defence pairings and will start a rookie goaltender in playoffs for the first time since 1993 (Felix Potvin).
“There’s no sense in feeling pressure for us,” Panthers MVP Matthew Tkachuk says. “Eighth seed, limped in, like, been fighting our way through the whole year. It’s just about having fun. Why play if you can’t enjoy it? There’s no pressure on us.”
Even during Game 3’s nail-biting 3-2 overtime win, when the Cats were tilting the ice but never led under Sam Reinhart froze the clock, Tkachuk insists the bench was loose.
“We have a very serious team where guys really want to do well, but, I mean, tie game late in the third and we’re enjoying it on the bench, laughing and smiling,” Tkachuk says. “Looking around at the moment that we’re in and really, really enjoying it. We’re having so much fun. Even before overtime, laughing around with the guys. I don’t know. It’s very fun. It’s a very fun environment.”
Paul Maurice drills home the message of plucky Florida as the happy-go-lucky group in the series.
“If you can’t enjoy it, then you need to leave — and I know it for a fact,” Maurice says. “I’m not saying you’re not nervous or you’re not wound up or you’re not at all jacked up. Like, you are. But if you can’t find a way to enjoy that, then that’s kind of sad. Like, why work your ass off your entire life to get to a place that you really don’t enjoy the day that you worked your ass off to get to? It would make little sense.”
If the Panthers’ press availabilities are lighthearted philosophy classes, the Maple Leafs have become root canals.
Coming off a scattered performance in Game 3 that received poor reviews, Leafs 2022-23 MVP Mitchell Marner struck a defiant us-against-the-world stance:
“We’ve been saying it this whole time: We don’t care what you guys say. We don’t listen to you guys outside of this locker room. We’re just focused on ourselves and this group in here.”
OK.
Well, the Maple Leafs must focus on getting the puck across Sergei Bobrovsky’s goal line, because five straight games with only scoring two goals will not get it done.
The most remarkable statistic here: Since John Tavares famously signed with the Maple Leafs in 2018, this is the first three-game stretch in which neither he, Marner, Auston Matthews, nor William Nylander has scored a goal.
“I do continue to have great belief in our group,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe insists. “We still haven’t played our best hockey, but we have played good hockey and have certainly been in these last two games. We are right there, one shot away and leading through a lot of the game. We are not that far off. We certainly have the ability to put it together. We won three games in a row in the Tampa series.
“Anything worth achieving is hard. We will do all that we can to have our group ready to get the win on Wednesday and bring it back to Toronto.”
Juggling the D
T.J. Brodie (minus-4) and Jake McCabe (minus-8) were the Maple Leafs’ shutdown pair through the first nine games of the postseason, but they’ve struggled against the opposition’s top forwards.
Keefe will split that duo up Wednesday, moving Brodie to the left side with righty Justin Holl.
Something needed to change, and that tweak could pay off, as it pits Toronto’s best defender on the same side of the rink as the Panthers’ best wingers. Tkachuk, Reinhart, and Anthony Duclair will all be coming down Brodie’s side with pace.
McCabe has been knocked down to a third pairing with Timothy Liljegren, who was healthy-scratched Sunday.
“We are looking to change the group up a little bit and try to get Brodie on the left side to see if it can help us,” Keefe explains. “Also, he and McCabe hasn’t gone the way we’d like it to through both series, frankly. We are trying to change the chemistry of the group a bit there. Brodie [and]Holl have played together a lot throughout the season at different times. They have done a really good job.”
The seldom-used Mark Giordano will slot in as the seventh defenceman if Toronto rolls back another 11/7 lineup.
“With Giordano’s presence there as well, it gives us a lot of options to try different things,” said Keefe. “We think the timing is right to change it up.”
Keefe has also elevated Alexander Kerfoot to the top six for some defensive balance, while dropping Michael Bunting down to Ryan O’Reilly’s third line.
Wonder Woll
While Ilya Samsonov was getting an MRI test on the upper-body injury that took him out of Game 3, his replacement, Joseph Woll was jumping in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday, trying to refresh his body and his brain for the biggest start of his life.
“Got a little swim in the ocean, got a bit of water therapy there,” Woll says. “We had a good day as a team, spent some time together as a group. Hopefully everyone got a chance to clear their minds and come dialled in.”
The 24-year-old has posted an .846 in his two mid-game relief appearances in these playoffs, but his coach and teammates have full confidence the kid can carry the weight. His stellar showing in both the AHL (16-4-1, .927) and NHL (6-1-0, .932) this season would back that faith up.
“Really solid for us when he’s had to step in. I’ve known him since our junior days. He’s just made so much progress as a goalie, I think, mentally as well. Just a really great guy. He works hard, he comes to the rink every day with a smile on his face, and he loves to get in there and compete,” Matthews says.
Keefe asserts that the patiently groomed prospect is ready for this opportunity.
“It’s awesome. I hope the team has as much faith in me as I have in them,” Woll says.
“One thing I’ve learned is that it’s awesome to have external support, but what really is important is the internal stuff. I have all the faith in the world. My goal is to play like that.”
Asked to describe the Maple Leafs’ mood facing elimination, Woll replies: “Belief.”
He has no interest in rehashing his rocky journey since being drafted by the club in 2016 and got stumped by a question about the last giant-stakes game he started.
“Right now, it’s straight ahead. I think there’s time for reflection. I don’t think that time is now,” Woll says.
“The time right now is to trust everything I’ve done and everything this team has done. As long as I trust that and have some faith, I think anything’s possible here.”
Maple Leafs projected Game 4 lineup
Järnkrok – Matthews – Marner
Kerfoot – Tavares – Nylander
Bunting – O’Reilly – Acciari
Kämpf – Lafferty
Rielly – Schenn
Brodie – Holl
McCabe – Liljegren
Giordano
Woll starts
Murray
