TORONTO – Matthew Tkachuk sees plenty of similarities between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Original Six powerhouse his Florida Panthers just booted from the Stanley Cup tournament, despite going down 3-1 to the Boston Bruins.
“There’s not a lot of people out there that think we’re going to be able to pull this one off, just like they didn’t think we were able to pull the last one off,” Tkachuk said Tuesday morning at Scotiabank Arena.
“I guess the prize for knocking off the best team in the league is the second-best team in the league now. It’s going to be a very, very similar challenge for us.”
Technically, the Carolina Hurricanes finished with more wins (52-50) and points (113-111) than the Maple Leafs. But Tkachuk sees a ton of comparisons between Toronto and Florida’s Presidents’ Trophy–winning victim.
Centre depth. Dynamic wingers who can pile up points. Defencemen that love to jump in the rush. Potent power-plays. Consistent regular seasons. Passionate fan bases.
“Everyone talks about the unbelievable year Boston had, but Toronto was not that far behind them,” says Tkachuk, arguing the long the series churns, the more it favours Florida.
“Hopefully we can catch them by surprise in this series like we caught Boston.”
The 42-win Panthers finished with 43 fewer points than the 65-win Bruins in the standings and will hope to keep momentum rolling Tuesday from their Game 7 stunner at TD Garden less than 48 hours ago.
“They earned the right to have the confidence after knocking off a team like Boston,” Auston Matthews says.
“They just took down the best team in hockey this year,” echoes Ryan O’Reilly.
The book on Florida is, the Cats can fly. They’re quick off transition and fierce on the forecheck. They play an aggressive brand of hockey and would rather get into a track meet than a 2-1 defensive tussle.
Toronto will aim to own the neutral zone and at get off to a much more assertive start than its flat beginning in Round 1’s opener.
“Urgency. Physicality. Dictating right away,” O’Reilly says.
Adds Jake McCabe: “Be better on the breakout than we were against Tampa. These guys come hard as well. They got a lot of speed.”
Despite being claimed by Vegas oddsmakers as the new Stanley Cup favourite, the Maple Leafs would be foolish to take any opponent for granted. That includes an 8-seed that amassed eight fewer wins and failed to defeat Toronto in the regular season.
“When you shave half the teams out of the playoff picture, you’re only left with good teams. There’s no bad teams left,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice says. “We spend too much time going, ‘first (seed),” ‘wildcard,’ ‘underdog.’ They’re all good teams.
“That gap isn’t as big as people think.”
From a player’s perspective, however, skating with a chip on your shoulder can be valuable motivation. So, it makes sense for Tkachuk to lead off with the underdog card.
“A lot of doubters,” Tkachuk reminds. “Except for us.”
Tavares flexes dad strength
Between his Game 2 hat trick and his becoming the first Maple Leafs captain in history to go freaking forehand and score a series-clinching goal, John Tavares became a father for the third time.
“It’s been busy. It’s been great,” says Tavares, thanking his wife and family for their support.
“A lot of emotions. A lot going on.”
What timing: a beautiful baby girl Leafs fan, just in time to hop on the bandwagon — and find her name Sharpie’d onto Dad’s hockey stick for the big game in Tampa.
Welcome, Rae.
“That’s an absolute whirlwind for him. The emotions of bringing a child into the world and scoring one of the biggest goals in — what? — the last 20 years for this organization,” O’Reilly says.
Not to mention that the biggest kid living in Tavares’s home, 20-year-old Matthew Knies, set up the patriarch for the Game 6 winner with a nifty little slip pass along the wall.
“Funny how those things work,” Jake McCabe says. “Scores a big goal for us right after his baby girl is born. It’s such an exciting time for him, his boys, his wife Aryne. So, it’s a little more special for him to get that goal.
“Just a great time for the Tavareses.”
Panthers will have a hard time denying the snowbirds
For the first 24 hours, the Panthers restricted ticket sales for games 3 and 4 at FLA Live Arena to buyers whose credit cards were attached to an U.S. address only.
Will this effort to prevent well-travelled Leafs fans from taking over the enemy’s barn prove successful?
“I doubt it,” Jake McCabe said, plainly.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
And considering the hefty price of tickets to Toronto home games and the number of Canadians accustomed to hopping a southbound flight along the Atlantic, bet on Cats fans scattered in a sea of blue.
“I’m sure people will find their way into that building,” Michael Bunting chuckles.
Banged-up Bolts
The hockey way dictates that injuries may never be used as an excuse. Yet we’re still interested when they get revealed after there’s no longer a point in hiding the truth.
Here’s the list of the Lightning’s walking wounded during its Round 1 loss to Toronto: Tanner Jeannot, high ankle sprain; Michael Eyssimont, concussion-like symptoms; Erik Cernak, concussion; Victor Hedman, hip impingement; and Brayden Point, rib cage cartilage fracture.
Pat Maroon played villain to the Leafs in Round 1 but was gracious in defeat Tuesday after cleaning out his locker, giving a shoutout to O’Reilly and former Lightning Luke Schenn in particular for their contributions.
“Toronto got two good people that we’d love to have in our locker room,” Maroon said. “I’m really happy for them.
“They do the little things that make a team perfect.”
O’Reilly and Maroon shared an embrace and a quiet chat in the bowels of Amalie Arena after the handshakes.
“Obviously he was pretty upset. They wanted to keep it going. But just talking to him, he’s made on a hall-of-fame run with (winning 15) consecutive series, been the distance four years in a row, you’re kinda due for a nice summer of relaxing,” O’Reilly says.
“We kinda had a chuckle about that. But for this era, too, what he did was incredible.”
One-Timers: Erik Gustafsson played just 7:38 and was a dash-1 in Toronto’s Game 6 victory in Tampa. He’ll join Sam Lafferty and Justin Holl on the healthy scratch list as Keefe return to a 12-forward, six-defenceman lineup…. Matt Murray (concussion) has rejoined the club as the third-string goalie, and Erik Källgren return to the Marlies. Murray is expected to travel to Sunrise for games 3 and 4…. Winners of the past 16 Stanley Cups have all been eliminated. One hungry fan base will be incredibly happy next month…. Selke finalists will be announced Tuesday. Curious if Mitch Marner makes the list… Ilya Samsonov has posted a tidy 1.44 goals-against average versus the Panthers…. Bet on Sergei Bobrovsky to start in net.
Maple Leafs projected Game 1 lineup vs. Panthers
Knies – Matthews – Nylander
Jarnkrok – Tavares – Marner
Bunting – O’Reilly – Acciari
Aston-Reese – Kämpf – Kerfoot
McCabe – Brodie
Rielly – Schenn
Giordano – Liljegren
Samsonov starts
Woll
