Analysis | Leafs season on the brink after OT loss to Panthers in Game 3

SUNRISE, Fla.—Uh oh.

The Maple Leafs are the brink of elimination after dropping a 3-2 decision to the Florida Panthers in overtime Sunday night. They’re down three games to none in the best-of-seven second-round playoff series.

Sam Reinhart’s wraparound attempt three minutes into the extra period gave Florida its third overtime win of the playoffs.

With the Leafs’ big guns shooting blanks and their starting goalie hurt, their season could end in Wednesday’s Game 4, also in Florida.

It’s a long road to recovery, but not impossible. They’ll have to channel the spirit of legends such as Turk Broda and Syl Apps — leaders of the only squad in franchise history to rally from a similar deficit. That was in the 1942 Stanley Cup final. Those players are among the ones with bronze statues outside Scotiabank Arena, where their retired numbers also hang.

Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander have failed to score in any of the three games in this series, the longest all four had been held off the board at the same time all season.

Players of whom so much was expected delivered so little, especially for the couple of thousand Leafs fans who made it the FLA Live Arena. The Panthers had tried to prevent Leafs fans from purchasing tickets, but they found a way and chanted “Go Leafs Go” between the home crowd cheers of “Let’s Go Panthers.”

The Leafs lost in overtime for the first time in the playoffs, after having beaten Tampa in part on the strength of their OT success.

The Leafs got goals from Sam Lafferty and Erik Gustafsson, and a solid effort in net from Joseph Woll in relief of Ilya Samsonov, who left for the night early in the second period after a goalmouth collision. His status was unknown.

After talk of retribution on the Leafs side toward Sam Bennett, it didn’t happen. Bennett cross-checked Michael Bunting in the head in Game 2, and slammed Matthew Knies to the ice to cause a concussion. The Panthers played a clean Game 3: no penalties, while the Leafs took two.

Samsonov hurt

It felt as if the Leafs’ season was on the line after the second period ended 2-2, thanks to a series of events that saw Woll in net to finish the period. They were outshot 21-13 and the breaks were all going Florida’s way.

The Leafs had a 1-0 lead, but Samsonov was hurt on a rush while stopping a Carter Verhaeghe shot just 37 seconds into the second period. Leafs defenceman Luke Schenn, tracking Verhaeghe and ultimately taking a tripping penalty on the play, lost his balance and slid hard into Samsonov. The goalie’s left shoulder seemed to get the worst of the collision, but he also did the splits and was pushed hard into the goalpost, with the inside of his left leg taking the brunt of it.

Woll came in and Anthony Duclair scored on a breakaway, with one second left in the minor to Schenn.

Gustafsson — a bit of a surprise roster addition — put the Leafs back up by one when a pass meant for David Kämpf deflected past Bobrovsky.

The Panthers got another lucky break when a Radko Gudas shot deflected off Verhaeghe’s rear end, fooling Woll to make it 2-2.

Change works

Keefe has been playing his cards close to his chest throughout the playoffs, at least as far as announcing lineup changes. It keeps the other team guessing. The quieter he is about the lineup, the more likely change is coming. But dressing 11 forwards and seven defencemen shouldn’t have been much of a surprise. With forward Matthew Knies out (concussion) and the team trailing in the series, the 11/7 format was a nod to Keefe planning to double-shift his top players.

It was the fourth line that opened the scoring in a high-event, crazy-fast first period that somehow resulted in only 11 shots between the teams. Lafferty got his first goal of the playoffs, set up nicely on a two-one one with Kämpf. Alex Kerfoot was the double-shifted forward, but Morgan Rielly got the assist.

It was Toronto’s first of just four shots in that period on Bobrovsky. The Panthers got seven, many of the high-danger type, but Samsonov held them off the board.

Back in the Leafs lineup was Justin Holl, who struggled against Tampa but whose physical presence had been missed. Gustafsson was the seventh defenceman, with Timothy Liljegren scratched.

About Rielly

Rielly’s assist on the opening goal was his 11th point, the most by a Leafs defenceman in a single post-season since 1994, when Dave Ellett posted 19 and Dmitri Mironov had 15. Rielly has an eight-game point streak.

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