Chaos erupted as the final buzzer went in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2-0 loss to the Florida Panthers on Sunday in Game 4 of the series.
In the corner, all five players from each team were involved in a scrum after Max Domi checked Aleksander Barkov from behind into the boards. After the hit, several Panthers played dogpiled Domi, while Brad Marchand and Bobby McMann traded shots.
Domi was called for boarding. McMann, Marchand, and Aaron Ekblad received misconducts.
As that happened, Matthew Tkachuk and William Nylander were jawing back and forth on the bench.
On TNT’s broadcast, you can hear what appears to be Tkachuk saying to Nylander that he will go after him in Game 5. Tkachuk also winked towards Toronto’s bench as the scrum in the corner was still happening.
What did Nylander make of the Florida forward getting in his ear?
“Just talking. That’s what he does,” Nylander said.
“He’ll probably do whatever he can to get a player off their game, but yeah, the next game’s going to be a fun one.”
The series is beginning to heat up as the Panthers have won back-to-back games at home. Both teams will head to Toronto, and whoever wins there will have a chance to advance to the third round on Friday in Florida.
It’s the Maple Leafs’ second shutout loss of the playoffs, with the first being in Game 5 against Ottawa, where Toronto lost 4-0. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 37 shots on Sunday night, and although his save percentage in the series (.890) doesn’t say it, it feels like the goaltender is finding his form.
Toronto had its chances despite the loss. John Tavares led the Maple Leafs with five shots in the game, Nylander was right behind him with four, and Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies had three.
“I think they did a good job keeping us on the outside and hard getting to the inside, letting their goalie see the puck,” Nylander said. “Yeah, they did a great job. The series, it’s a tough battle.”
However, it shouldn’t feel like the sky is falling for the Maple Leafs. They handled Florida well in the first two games, showing what their high-powered offense can do. Even in the early goings of Game 3, Toronto was playing sound hockey.
Either Game 4 was an anomaly, which it likely was, or we’re witnessing the Panthers’ Stanley Cup-winning pedigree come to life. Either way, the Maple Leafs will keep battling back, as they have under head coach Craig Berube throughout the year.
And Nylander, he doesn’t believe this series is close to being over.
“Yeah, I mean, 2-2,” he said. “It’s going to be a long series. That’s our mindset.”
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