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Toronto’s jinx: Leafs lose another Game 7
Jonathan Di Gregorio
Toronto’s jinx: Leafs lose another Game 7
Credit: Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers faced off in a seventh and final game. Good news for the Torontonians: Matthew Knies, a doubtful case, took part in the game. Here are the two teams’ line-ups for this game with no tomorrow. RD2 GM7 Lineup@Molson_Canadian | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/bZHNsC8OcR – Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May […]
Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers faced off in a seventh and final game.

Good news for the Torontonians: Matthew Knies, a doubtful case, took part in the game.

Here are the two teams’ line-ups for this game with no tomorrow.

The Panthers came out strong from the start and spent the first few minutes of the first period in the opposition’s zone.

Although the shots were 7-0 for the visitors, the score was still 0-0.

We’re halfway through the period when the Leafs finally show some life when William Nylander gets a good chance to score, but to no avail.

If the first half of the opening period was the Panthers’ affair, the second half was dominated by the much more convincing home side, who forced Sergei Bobrovsky to signal his presence, notably in front of two breakaways.

A penalty for too many players on the ice at the end of the period could have hurt the Leafs, but they held firm.

The score remained 0-0 after 20 minutes of play.

Just three minutes into the second period, Seth Jones opened the scoring for the Panthers on a two-on-one run. Evan Rodrigues and Aleksander Barkov picked up assists on the play.

The visitors continued to pile on the pressure and quickly doubled their lead when Anton Lundell beat Joseph Voll with the help of Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand.

Nothing went right for the Leafs when Jonah Gadjovich scored his team’s third, assisted by A.J. Greer and Jones, his second point of the game.

The rest of the period was dominated by Florida, who came close to extending their lead on several occasions and Seth Jones even had a goal disallowed.

Fans began to show their frustration and booed the Leafs.

It’s 3-0 to the Panthers at the second intermission. It was going to be a tough comeback for the home team.

The Leafs came out more convincing in the third period, and Max Domi took advantage to open the scoring for his team. Bobby McMann picked up an assist on his team’s goal.

Unfortunately for Toronto, the celebrations were short-lived when 47 seconds later, Luostarinen gave his club a three-goal lead back with the help of Marchand.

The goal was a cold shower for the Leafs, and the visitors took the opportunity to nail the coffin shut with a fifth goal midway through the third period from Sam Reinhart off a Barkov pass.

Several spectators then began to leave Scotiabank Arena, while others voiced their displeasure, particularly towards Mitch Marner.

The rest of the game was uneventful, with the exception of Marchand’s empty-net goal.

Final score: 6-1 Panthers victory. Once again, Auston Matthews and his gang lose game number seven.

And for those wondering, the last time the Maple Leafs won a game number seven was in 2004. That’s the year the Expos left Montreal!


Extension

Another spring comes to an end too quickly in Toronto. Will we see big changes in the Queen City this summer? Despite the Leafs’ abundance of talent, this team doesn’t seem built to go all the way. Should we sacrifice a bit of offense in search of the depth that could help them get further in the playoffs? Let’s not forget that John Tavares and Mitch Marner will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Given the way the fans booed Marner, we have to wonder whether he’ll be back in Toronto next year. Or will there be changes in management? In short, there are plenty of questions the Leafs will have to answer in the coming weeks. In the meantime, there’s still the Oilers for those hoping that the Stanley Cup will return to Canada

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