Leafs’ big guns step up in victory over Panthers

TORONTO – John Tavares put the puck in the net off a slick William Nylander feed.

Mitch Marner then finished a nice setup from Auston Matthews before finding Matthew Knies with a breathtaking stretch pass that led to a breakaway goal.

The Maple Leafs’ stars rose to the occasion offensively in Wednesday’s crucial tilt atop the Atlantic Division standings.

Toronto’s big guns also brought it at the other end of the ice to secure a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers that clinched a playoff spot.

“That’s a goal at the start of the year,” Marner said. “Still a lot on the line.”

Matthews, Marner and Tavares were on for a tense final minute that saw the visitors press in a game that felt a lot like a post-season matchup between teams with designs on making deep runs this spring.

“They’re not there just to score,” Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. “They’re there to play 200 feet of hockey, whether it’s penalty killing, protecting the lead, just playing good defence. You need that for everybody. Everybody.

“Doesn’t matter who it is. Guys need to be bought into sacrificing to play the other side of the puck.”

Toronto showed that level of commitment against the defending Stanley Cup champions, a team on the tail end of a back-to-back and missing a couple of key pieces, including injured captain Aleksander Barkov.

Marner jumped, scratched and clawed to get the puck out of the defensive zone during one sequence in the dying moments — an example of the commitment Berube has been preaching since taking over from the fired Sheldon Keefe last May.

“They’re going to be our horses and they’re going to have to lead offensively and defensively,” said Toronto goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who won the Cup with Florida and made 29 saves to pick up the victory against his former team.

“For us to go far, those guys are going to have to commit to a 200-foot game. We’re doing a healthy job of that. When they’re going, everyone else follows suit.”

The Leafs lead the Tampa Bay Lightning by three points atop the division and sit four up on the Panthers. The Lightning have a game in hand.

Berube, who won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, was brought in by general manager Brad Treliving to get Toronto, which has one series victory since 2004, over the playoff hump with a more north-south, defensive-minded, straightforward approach.

“Our team has played very consistent this year and did a real good job of changing their style of play and playing a certain way and adapting to it over time,” Berube said. “It doesn’t happen overnight … takes awhile. But they’ve learned to figure it out with the different areas of the game.

“It’s been a pleasure.”

Tavares, who scored his 36th goal of the season, said trying to create offence while staying within the group’s structure has been a balancing act.

“We want to step up and make plays, but it’s the details and the consistency of your game, and not getting away from it just to find a way to make a play and score a goal,” he said. “Earning that through the process of our identity in our game is extremely important. You’ve just got to stay with it and work for your opportunities.

“Win those small battles.”

Securing the Atlantic crown would see Toronto avoid Florida and Tampa in the first round of the playoffs, and instead book a date with a wild-card opponent — potentially the Ottawa Senators.

“It’s not the be all and end all,” Berube said. “First place in your division would be great, but that’s a ways away.”

Stolarz said getting a victory over the Panthers after suffering 5-1 and 3-2 losses earlier in the schedule was confidence boost.

“We know what’s at stake,” he said. “Our goal is to win the division and get home-ice advantage.

“This is a team more likely than not, if we want to accomplish what we want to accomplish, that we’re going to have to run into in the playoffs.”

Wednesday was an example of the required commitment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2025.

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