Panthers Walk Past Maple Leafs in Game 7, Advance to Eastern Conference Final

The defending champs are still hunting after leaving enemy territory unscathed in a winner-take-all Game 7.

Off the back of a three-goal third period, the Florida Panthers defeated the Maple Leafs 6-1 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Sunday night to punch its ticket to a third-consecutive Eastern Conference Final.

While the Panthers are now 3-0 under head coach Paul Maurice in Game 7s, the Maple Leafs are not as fortunate, having lost seven-straight in Game 7.

Following a second-consecutive game without a goal in the first period, Seth Jones opened the scoring 3:15 into the second, putting the Panthers up 1-0 with his third goal of the playoffs.

After jumping up in the rush and receiving a bump pass off the boards from Evan Rodrigues, Jones rifled a shot over Joseph Woll’s shoulder for his third goal of the playoffs

Just a few minutes after Florida broke the ice on a deadlock game, Anton Lundell doubled the lead with his fourth goal of the postseason 7:18 into the middle frame.

The onslaught continued after Jonah Gadjovich put away Florida’s third unanswered goal in the opening 10 minutes of the second period, silencing the home crowd after giving his team a 3-0 lead.

Looking for any sense of life — down three — with their season on the line, Max Domi got Toronto on the board early in the third after beating Bobrovsky five-hole 2:07 into the period, cutting the deficit to 3-1.

Toronto’s momentum following Domi’s goal quickly vanished after Eetu Luostarinen restored a three-goal lead for Florida just 47 seconds after the Leafs finally got on the scoresheet.

Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand also scored for the Panthers in the win.

Florida moves on to face Carolina in the ECF, setting up a rematch of the 2023 Conference Finals, which saw the Panthers sweep the Hurricanes.

The Panthers will immediately hit the road again as Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final is set for Tuesday, May 20 at 8 p.m. EST from Raleigh, NC.