The Toronto Maple Leafs hit the ice for practice a day before the puck drops for Game 1 of their second-round series against the Florida Panthers on Sunday. As for the matchup, the Leafs can redeem themselves from 2023, in which they lost to the Panthers in just five games.
With a new opportunity on the horizon, the Leafs are putting forth an aspect they lacked in that 2023 series – composure.
It’s that same composure that helped Toronto close out the Ottawa Senators in six games during the Battle of Ontario last week during their first-round meeting. After taking a commanding 3-0 series lead, the Leafs saw Ottawa claw back with two straight wins, forcing a Game 6 on the road. For a team that had long been criticized for its inability to close out series, just 1-13 in elimination games since 2018, ahead of the game, it was a familiar, uncomfortable position.
But this time, the result was different.
“I think dealing with the ups and downs during the game and things not going well during the game, there’s not a lot of emotion involved in it. It’s just like, okay, we’re good, we’re going to keep working. I think our leaders have done a great job of handling that. I hear them on the bench talking, not just (Auston) Matthews and (Mitch) Marner. It’s a lot of guys. (Chris) Tanev, (Jake) McCabe, these guys,” said head coach Craig Berube on Sunday.
“Just stick with it. Just stick with it. Being patient and not letting your emotions get too involved in everything. Yes, you need emotion to play this game, but it has to be directed in the right way,” he added.
Berube, a Stanley Cup-winning coach with the St. Louis Blues, has emphasized a business-like approach since taking over behind the Leafs’ bench and throughout the postseason. It prioritizes emotional control not just in-game, but in the noise that surrounds the team, both on and off the ice.
That mindset was tested throughout the first round.
In Game 6, after holding a 2-0 lead early in the second period, the Leafs watched it evaporate. Ottawa tied the game with goals in the second and third, a situation that has unraveled for Toronto in years past. But instead of folding, the Leafs responded – just 101 seconds after David Perron’s equalizer, Max Pacioretty reclaimed the lead, before sealing the 4-2 win with an empty-net goal from William Nylander.
MAX PACIORETTY FOR THE LEAD!!! WHAT A GAME pic.twitter.com/ajpDySIJWY
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 2, 2025
After Ottawa tied the game, Berube mentioned that the attitude was positive and he didn’t have to step in – instead, the group was composed without his direct help in the situation.
“Yeah, it was really good on the bench, I thought. That happened, and I could just hear the guys talk and the things they said, which was very good. I didn’t have to say anything,” Berube explained. “I thought that we went right back to playing our game, and we ended up scoring the goal that counted and mattered.”
The same pattern held in earlier games throughout the series. In Game 2, Toronto let a 2-0 lead slip away late in regulation but recovered to win in overtime on home ice. In Game 3, they trailed early, then led, then gave up another late equalizer – and still managed to earn another overtime victory.
In previous years, those games have not gone their way.
But during these playoffs, it’s been different. There was plenty of noise on the outside after the club failed to close out the series two games in a row, including being shut out on home ice in Game 4. Yet, in round one, when Toronto got down, they were not out of it as they had been in years past. That’s a positive sign and something that a Stanley Cup-winning head coach has instilled in a group that has struggled to get over the hump in the postseason.
“Well, we talked about composure before the series, and composure is not just the in-game composure. That’s very important. But it’s the outside composure, too, that you need when there are losses and there is noise, there’s outside noise, and there’s going to be. That’s part of it all. You’ve got to let it slide off your back and get ready, just focus on the next game, next shift,” Berube explained.
Ahead of a matchup with the defending Stanley Cup champions, who had their number in the regular season, going 3-1 against Toronto, poise, patience, and composure will be the key to any version of success. There isn’t expected to be much margin for error, and if the Leafs get away from what’s made them successful in the opening round, a repeat of the 2023 series will likely occur.
“That’ll be important in this series because, like I said, there’s not going to be a lot of room out there. There’s going to be a lot of times where there’s just not a lot going on the way you want,” said Berube. “You’ve got to keep battling and stay patient with it.”
Stay updated with the most interesting Maple Leafs stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.
Read the full article here
