One team will end tonight’s game one win away from the Conference Finals after a pivotal Game 5 between the Maple Leafs and Panthers at Scotiabank Arena (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet/CBC/ESPN).
Keys to Game 5
via Anthony Petrielli (@APetrielli)
– The series is tied 2-2, and the Maple Leafs hold home-ice advantage still. It feels like some in the Toronto market need to remember that. The champs weren’t going to go down easy, and the Leafs are still in a decent position, so it’s time to get over it and move on.
– The Leafs are losing the special-teams battle so far. The power play is at 13.3% and the penalty kill sits at 78.6%, compared to 21.4% and 86.7%, respectively, for Florida. The Leafs‘ top power-play unit has scored one goal in four games and is starting to verge on conceding more chances than it is creating. The top unit needs to outwork the Panthers’ PK, play with urgency, and work it down low.
– In the last two games, Florida has won 60+% of battles, which might be generous to the Leafs. The coach can’t draw how to win battles on a whiteboard. The Leafs must dig in (especially at their own blue line), try to re-establish forecheck early, and get the crowd into it.
– Lineup changes should be seriously considered (Kampf/Robertson), and Craig Berube should reassert Matthews vs. Barkov at home. More importantly, the Panthers are selling out on shutting down William Nylander, who is drawing the Gustav Forsling match now. More than anything, this is why the Matthews-Marner line needs to deliver offensively.
– Beyond the scrutiny are #34 and #16 are receiving, five regular Leafs forwards haven’t scored a goal yet this playoffs. Toronto can’t have half their forward group producing nothing. The coaching staff needs to work the bottom-six matchups to try to squeeze something out of them offensively.
– Drive the net harder, and get to Sergei Bobrovsky.
Game Day Quotes
Craig Berube on his team’s breakouts against the Florida forecheck:
They were pretty good last game, to be honest with you. We look at all of the stats and the video. It is not clean all the time, and you have to understand it is not going to be clean. The game will not be clean with the way they pressure. You have to be comfortable with things off the glass and chip-outs. We have to have people skating and getting through onto those pucks.
It is not always going to be clean, but I think our defense is doing a good job of that. Our wall play was pretty good last game. There were a lot of good things that way. We have to find a way to get through that swarm in their zone, especially off our forecheck. That will be key tonight.
Berube on the team’s mentality coming off two straight losses:
Normal. Like the rest of the playoffs, business-like and ready to go. We’re looking forward to the challenge tonight and are excited to play. Our practice was really good yesterday. The guys were in a great frame of mind. We understand what type of game it is going to be. We have to go out and execute.
Paul Maurice on his team’s mentality entering a pressure-packed Game 5:
This is where we are supposed to be. This setup is exactly the Ranger game. We were down in the series, came back, and went into New York. It is the hardest thing, that excitement about it. That is kind of how we are moving around each other today.
Maurice on Jesper Boqvist replacing Evan Rodrigues in the Panthers’ lineup:
The advantage of having him come in is that he can play all three forward positions, which gives us some options on either Tomas Nosek returning to the left wing with Barkov and Reinhart — as we did in the last 15 minutes of the third — or I can move him over to the right as well. There is a lot of versatility there for us.
He has experience. When we bring guys in from the outside, they have had a big impact for us. They have been critical. A part of that is that they are never really on the outside, right? They are all part of the chirping, the practicing, and all of the things that go on. They feel like they are a part of it.
Everybody is pretty excited for him.
Jake McCabe on the keys to success on home ice in the playoffs so far:
I have liked our starts for most of the series. Game 3 had a great start, too. That will be key tonight. Let’s get on the attack early and get our fans up in their seats.
McCabe on taking confidence from the example of the team’s resilience after two losses in a row to Ottawa in the last series:
We have responded all playoffs long, whether it is throughout a series or throughout a game. I think our resilience has been solid, and our composure has been good. I don’t expect that to change.
John Tavares on the areas for improvement coming off the 2-0 loss in Game 4:
We don’t want to be in the box as much as we were in the first period. Just control what you can control, be really disciplined, play hard, and compete between the whistles. Stay together and stand your ground when needed, but understand the need to be disciplined and control the emotion by directing it the right way.
Overall, with the way we can skate and get on it with our puck pursuit and pressure, it’s about playing physically, being competitive, winning your battles, and making our opponent have to defend us and work through us.
Aleksander Barkov on the hit he took from Max Domi at the final buzzer of Game 4:
I didn’t see it. Haha.
No, it’s fine. It is playoff hockey. Things happen.
Barkov on the Panthers searching for their first road win of the series:
This building is tough to play in. We saw it in the first two games when they played really well here. It’s five minutes at a time. Shift at a time. We go with that mindset.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies — #34 Auston Matthews — #16 Mitch Marner
#67 Max Pacioretty — #91 John Tavares — #88 William Nylander
#24 Scott Laughton — #64 David Kampf — #18 Steven Lorentz
#74 Bobby McMann — #11 Max Domi — #89 Nick Robertson
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe — #8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly — #25 Brandon Carlo
#2 Simon Benoit — #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#30 Matt Murray
Injured: Anthony Stolarz
Extras: Pontus Holmberg, Calle Jarnkrok, Ryan Reaves, Philippe Myers, Dakota Mermis, Jani Hakanpaa, Dennis Hildeby
Florida Panthers Projected Lines
Forwards
#70 Jesper Boqvist — #16 Aleksander Barkov — #13 Sam Reinhart
#23 Carter Verhaeghe — #9 Sam Bennett — #19 Matthew Tkachuk
#27 Eetu Luostarinen — #15 Anton Lundell — #63 Brad Marchand
#10 AJ Greer — #92 Tomas Nosek — #17 Jonah Gadjovich
Defensemen
#42 Gustav Forsling — #5 Aaron Ekblad
#77 Niko Mikkola — #3 Seth Jones
#88 Nate Schmidt — #7 Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Starter: #72 Sergei Bobrovsky
#41 Vitek Vanecek
