Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand scored the overtime winner to help his team pick up a victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 5-4 win in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series. After the game, Marchand discussed the feeling of getting the win and seeing his team avoid going down 3-0 in their best-of-seven series.

"I feel good but it’s all about doing it in the next game," he said. "They’re going to come out hard. You saw the way that they played and prepared for the game. They have their 'killer instinct' right now. So we have to do a better job of preparing to start the game and carry it through."

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'Killer Instinct'—the two words that the Maple Leafs of the past have often been criticized for lacking, as evidenced by their playoff struggles over the years. And Marchand would know, having played in 31 playoff games against Toronto in his NHL career.

So, was Marchand trying to inflate the Maple Leafs' confidence in the series, perhaps by subtly trolling them with the use of 'killer instinct'?

But one of the biggest superpests in the NHL has done it before:

‘Trying To Do My Best To Help Us Break Out’: Joseph Woll Tight-Lipped About Puck-Handling Miscues, Maple Leafs Remain Confident In Goaltender Joseph Woll didn’t have much to say following the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 5-4 overtime loss in Game 3 to the Florida Panthers. Yes, the bounces leaned Florida’s way and Woll made 31 saves on 36 shots for a .861 save percentage, but it was the moments outside his crease, especially behind the net, where the 26-year-old looked most vulnerable. 

'Just BeLeaf'

Following the Boston Bruins' dramatic Game 7 overtime victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the 2024 playoffs, Marchand delivered a bit of a troll job when Sportsnet's Kyle Bukauskas interviewed him following the handshake line. When asked about the Bruins' ability to secure yet another Game 7 win against their rivals, Marchand was pressed on how his team was able to defeat Toronto in yet another postseason series.

"'Just belief' were the words he started with. This came after the Leafs had used 'BeLeaf' as a rallying cry when the club was down 3-1 in the series, before battling back to force a Game 7 and an eventual overtime situation. It may not have been an intentional troll job, but many interpreted it as such.

"It's over in five!"

During Game 3 of the 2024 first-round series, after scoring an empty-net goal that gave the Bruins a 4-2 lead and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven, Marchand was caught on camera skating by the benches, saying, "It's over in five!" He wasn't too far off after the Bruins won Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead.

Marchand's entire on-ice demeanor and playing style against the Maple Leafs consistently serve as a form of psychological warfare. His relentless chirping, diving, embellishments, and physical jabs have been a constant source of frustration for Leafs players and their fanbase across multiple playoff series (2013, 2018, 2019, 2024). He embodies the "rat" persona, and his ability to draw penalties, frustrate opponents, and often come up clutch against Toronto has been a long-standing form of trolling in itself.

Now it seems Marchand is trying to kill the Leafs with kindness by being complimentary, even when he mentioned the 'killer instinct' comments. After the Leafs went up 2-0 in the current series, Marchand stated that this Leafs team was "different" from those he had faced in the past, praising their improved defensive structure and commitment.

While seemingly innocuous on the surface, could it have been a calculated move to lull the Maple Leafs into a sense of complacency, or perhaps Marchand subtly trying to plant seeds of doubt? It seems to have worked for Game 3. Now, it's up to the Leafs to either find that 'killer instinct,' or this will very much be a series up for grabs.

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