海角社区官网

If not for a stellar performance in goal from Joseph Woll, who kept the Leafs in a game in which they were badly outshot, outskated and outchanced, it鈥檚 possible the Leafs would have lost in an embarrassing blowout. As it was, the Panthers eked out a 2-0 win that didn鈥檛 do justice to the extent of their superiority.

Leafs coach Craig Berube wants his team to play a 鈥渘orth game.鈥� It wasn鈥檛 in evidence on Sunday in the sunny south. Good thing for the Leafs that Game 5 is back in 海角社区官网on Wednesday.

Then again, the way Berube spoke after Sunday鈥檚 loss, it鈥檚 hard to know what the coach was watching, of if his team left him wanting at all.

鈥淚n the end, I really liked our physicality and our compete out there,鈥� Berube said. 鈥淚 thought most guys were engaged. They were going good.鈥�

Survey 1,000 Leaf-loving observers of Sunday’s game who aren’t blood relatives of the Core Four and it’s safe to say “going good” would not be a popular assessment. On a night when Toronto’s lack of discipline kept them short-handed for more than nine minutes, 海角社区官网was outshot 37-21 and lost the high-danger chance battle at five-on-five by a count of 11-6, according to . Toronto’s hapless power play gave Florida higher-quality short-handed chances than the Leafs could muster with the man advantage.

The visitors looked less like the Berube Leafs that won Games 1 and 2 in resilient fashion and more like the playoff no-shows helmed by Sheldon Keefe.

Even team captain Auston Matthews, who has yet to score in nine career second-round playoff games, saw the concerning signs in his team鈥檚 performance.

鈥淚 thought we didn’t do a good enough job of helping our D and executing coming out of the zone, and (the Panthers) were able to kind of sustain offensive zone pressure throughout the game,鈥� Matthews said. 鈥淚 thought there was times where we were better, but I think just consistently, over the 60 minutes, they outworked us and outplayed us in that area.鈥�

That area, and most of the other areas. No matter how you assessed Sunday鈥檚 performance, Games 3 and 4 amounted to a missed opportunity for the Leafs. The Panthers are the defending champions, and they鈥檙e to be respected. But let鈥檚 face it: As well as the home team played on Sunday聽鈥� Florida鈥檚 most sustained display of championship-level intensity聽鈥� they鈥檝e looked like a diminished defending champion for the bulk of the series.

Matthew Tkachuk, the club鈥檚 heart and soul, has been at less than his best, still apparently slowed by a lower-body injury suffered at the 4 Nations Face-Off that kept him out of the final couple of months of the regular season. He looked like he鈥檇 rediscovered some of his swagger by the end of Game 4, when he was seen on camera jawing with William Nylander, among other Leafs.

Sergei Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, came into Sunday as the second round’s worst-performing goaltender as measured by ’s goals saved above expected. That 海角社区官网couldn’t manage to pelt the 36-year-old netminder with more high-quality chances, especially early in Game 4, was inexcusable.

鈥淲e need to try and get the puck behind them a little bit more and create a little bit more tension in their zone, and just throw some junk at the net,鈥� Leafs defenceman Brandon Carlo said.

With Toronto鈥檚 failure to seize their many chances to win Game 3 and with their lacklustre performance in Game 4, it鈥檚 possible the Leafs have helped to reinvigorate a weary reigning champ.

鈥淭hat was more of the Panthers playoff hockey we鈥檙e used to,鈥� Sam Bennett said.

The more generous take came from Matthews: 鈥淏oth teams took care of home ice.鈥� But it was the Panthers who brought palpable hunger to Sunday鈥檚 game. And the Leafs didn鈥檛 help themselves, giving Florida four chances on the power play before the first intermission.

Blame the refs, sure, but three of the four 海角社区官网penalties were easy calls, including a high stick by Max Domi, boarding on Bobby McMann and a puck over the glass by Oliver Ekman-Larsson. A borderline hooking call on Matthew Knies, mind you, didn鈥檛 help.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 need to take those,鈥� Berube said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l be smarter than that.鈥�

Good 海角社区官网penalty killing on the first three manpower shortages couldn鈥檛 stop the Panthers from cashing in on the fourth, with Carter Verhaeghe tapping one in on the backdoor to make it 1-0. If not for Woll, who thwarted Sam Reinhart on a couple of point-blank chances and was as sharp as he鈥檚 been all series, it could have been worse.

Penalties have a tendency of balancing out. But while the Leafs earned three power plays in the second period, they could not take advantage. Florida鈥檚 short-handed chances, particularly a Reinhart point-blanker that required a quick Woll glove, were better than anything the Leafs could muster with the man advantage.

Mind you, the Leafs had their short-handed moments. Matthew Knies had a mid-third-period breakaway with the Leafs a man down. He shot wide.

With the Panthers clinging to a 1-0 lead in the third period鈥檚 latter half, a neutral zone turnover by Nylander cued the rush on which Bennett scored the goal that made it 2-0. Bennett used a patient, controlled deke to let traffic pass and let Woll swim out of position before depositing the puck in the net. He looked like a player who has succeeded in the business of turning important playoff games in his team鈥檚 direction more than once. He has the Stanley Cup ring to prove it.

As for the Maple Leafs? They鈥檝e still got plenty of time to show they鈥檙e acquiring the requisite skills for a long playoff run. Thankfully, for now, this bit of forgettable business in Florida is a done deal. Even the ever-positive Berube acknowledged the lineup may require a tweak before Wednesday.

鈥淭here’s guys that could do more for sure, and we’re going to need more out of them,鈥� Berube said. 鈥淪o we’ll figure that out, handle that 鈥� We鈥檒l talk about (potential lineup changes) and look at a couple of options.鈥�