The Florida Panthers looked pretty good in Game 7. Is anyone really surprised by that at this point? Florida has done nothing but show why they are built for the playoffs, overcoming adversity, injuries, suspensions and deficits in both series’ and games, and now they’re back in the conference final for the third straight season. It took an impressive effort against the Toronto Maple Leafs, winning a pair of games at Scotiabank Arena by a combined score of 12-2 that left a fanbase desperate for some semblance of postseason success equally shocked and saddened. Now Florida will face the Carolina Hurricanes, another team that should give the Panthers an extremely strong fight for the right to play for the Stanley Cup. But first, let’s get to the Game 7 takeaways: A PLAYERS’ WIN At this point of the season, hockey players generally know what needs to be done in order to find success. Some are able to continue doing their thing, because they are that good and can impose their will on other talented teams during the playoffs. That certainly appears to be the case with the Florida Panthers. Entering Sunday’s winner-take-all Game 7 against the Maple Leafs, which also happened to be the biggest game played in Toronto in over 20 years, there was a quiet confidence surrounding the Panthers. They have a veteran room full of postseason experience, and boy did it shine through on Sunday. “Game 7s are players’ games,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “We're at game 94 this year, there's not much coaching. We've been doing it for 93 games coming in. There's nothing new. There's no tactics.” BUILT FOR THIS When the Panthers hired Maurice during the summer of 2022, it was with the idea that he would make them a better playoff team. More physical and defensive in style, more aggressive in nature and overall, just tough as nails to play against. To say that it’s been a success to this point would be an understatement. Maurice has shaped the Panthers into a group that combines an old school mentality with elite players that utilize the tools of today to help research, react and perhaps most importantly, recover, so they can go out and do it again in a day or two. This team has it all down to a science. “If the core foundation of your game is the simplest things, it doesn't matter how your hands feel, it doesn't matter how your body feels. It doesn't matter how well you execute, if it's how comfortable you are in hard situations, then you have a chance,” Maurice said. “It starts in training camp for us, it's a grinder. This has been a grinding season for us, not just because the games we played, our schedule was abusive, but that turned out to be the right adversity that we would need to play. We talk about Game 7 in training camp. Let's want to play a style of game that gives us a chance to win tonight. It gave us a chance to win tonight.” CLOSER GAME THAN THE SCORE Just like in Game 5, Maurice was quick to point out that Sunday’s Game 7 was not the blowout that the score would indicate. Earlier in the series, the bounces and puck luck were going in Toronto’s favor, but later in the series, Florida started getting many of the favorable bounces, particularly around the net. The Maple Leafs did their darndest to keep goaltender Joseph Woll clean and protected, blocking shots left and right, but ultimately, the Panthers were just too much to handle, and the fortune usually follows the deserving side. “Those games are so tight, the emotion, the buildup to the games,” Maurice said. “When we score the first goal, we own the first 10 minutes of the first period. They own the second 10 minutes. That's it. If you flip it, they'd say, ‘Oh, they came out right.’ We came out right. They found the answer to come back at us. That's the truth, right? We scored a goal, and then we got those two (goals), and it's just a puck to the net. It's so much closer than you think, but you're going to kill these guys, and they don't deserve it. That’s seven games, and we played well. I didn't like our first period in Game 1, we played well in the two losses, we played well in Game 6 and got beat, that's how tight it is. So that's how I feel about it. I mean, the margin for error is small. Before the puck dropped tonight, there were five teams in the NHL left. Five, all of them capable of winning. The puck went our way tonight. 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Greer (10) celebrates a goal by forward Jonah Gadjovich (12) as Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) lies on the ice during the second period of game seven of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
