SUNRISE — Toronto captain Auston Matthews has drawn the ire of Maple Leafs fans. The three-time league-leading goal scorer went five games and two periods without scoring against the Panthers.
But Matthews scored arguably the biggest goal of Toronto’s season, putting the Maple Leafs on the board in a 2-0 win over Florida in Game 6 on Friday. The goal kept the Maple Leafs’ season alive, forcing Game 7 in Toronto on Sunday.
Both teams were scoreless through the first 44 minutes of the game. But Gustav Forsling’s errant pass ended up on Mitch Marner’s stick. Marner dished a pass to Matthews, who fired a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky for the game’s only goal.
After taking a beating in Game 5, the Maple Leafs came out lively. They out-shot the Panthers 7-2 in the first period and had 20 shot attempts to Florida’s 17.
Toronto had nine high-danger scoring chances in the first period, according to the hockey analytics site Natural Stat Trick, but Sergei Bobrovsky continued his hot stretch and kept the Maple Leafs off the scoreboard.
The Panthers dominated the first 10 minutes of the second period, getting 25 shot attempts compared to only one for the Maple Leafs. Florida racked up 31 shot attempts to Toronto’s five, and five high-danger attempts to the Maple Leafs’ one. But the two teams went to the locker room at the second intermission in a scoreless tie.
Both teams’ defenses played well, clogging gaps and blocking shots. But Matthews broke the scoreless tie, and the Panthers could not beat Toronto goalie Joseph Woll. Max Pacioretty added a second goal 14:17 into the second period, securing the win for the Maple Leafs.
It was the first time the Panthers had been shut out in a home playoff game since April 20, 1997, when the Rangers rolled 3-0 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
This story will be updated.
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