Leafs look to show off resilience in Game 5
Published
The Maple Leafs (optional) and Florida Panthers skated at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.
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After dropping two straight games in Florida, Leafs coach Craig Berube is urging his players to embrace the moment as they return home for Game 5 on Wednesday night.
"[Berube] talked about how this is what you work for," said centre John Tavares, "to play in these types of games and to get to this point in the season, in the series, so we're excited about it."
The second-round series between Atlantic Division heavyweights is now deadlocked at 2-2, but Toronto still owns home-ice advantage. The Leafs are 4-1 at Scotiabank Arena in the playoffs and have won 11 of their past 12 games here overall.
The Leafs have had two days to regroup after getting shutout in Game 4, including a full practice on Tuesday.
"I thought our practice was really good yesterday," Berube said. "Guys were in a great frame of mind. We understand what type of game it’s going to be and gotta go out and execute."
"I like the mood," said Tavares. "I like the attitude."
The Leafs responded well after losing two in a row to the Ottawa Senators in the first round. They bounced back by clinching the series in Game 6 in Ottawa.
"We’ve responded all playoffs long, frankly, whether it’s through a series or through a game," said defenceman Jake McCabe. " I think our resilience has been solid and composure’s been good so I don’t expect that to change."
The Leafs are 1-4 when hosting a Game 5 in the Auston Matthews era, so this is another chance to show that this year is different. During this nine-year run of playoff appearances, the Leafs have never won a series that was tied after four games (0-4).
The Panthers, meanwhile, are leaning on their championship pedigree as the pressure rises. Last year, Florida trailed the New York Rangers 2-1 in the Eastern Conference final before winning Game 4 at home, Game 5 at Madison Square Garden and ultimately the series in six games.
"This is where we’re supposed be," said Panthers coach Paul Maurice. "The setup is exactly the Ranger game. We were down in the series, came back, went into New York. It’s harnessing that excitement about it. That’s kind of how we’re moving around each other today."
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The Leafs didn't show any lineup changes in Tuesday's practice, but it looks like there will be a shake up coming in Game 5 after all.
Defensive-minded centre David Kampf, who has not played since April 2, did not skate on Wednesday morning. The players who are healthy scratches almost always hit the ice.
"Steady presence for us down the middle," said McCabe of Kampf. "He’s been around for quite a while now so we love Davvy."
Sharpshooting winger Nick Robertson did not stay out late with the black aces and looks like he could draw back in for the first time since Game 2 of the first round. On three occasions this season, Robertson scored in his first game back after being a healthy scratch.
"He's pretty good at that," Berube noted.
The coach declined to confirm any potential changes.
After missing Tuesday's practice due to an illness, defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson skated on Wednesday morning and is good to go for Game 5.
Backup goalie Matt Murray did not dress in Game 3 because he was sick, but Berube stressed that there's no bug working its way through the dressing room.
"One and done here and there," Berube said. "Nothing's going around."
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The Panthers will be making one lineup change. Evan Rodrigues joined the Panthers skate, but has not been cleared to return after taking a hit from Ekman-Larsson on Sunday.
Jesper Boqvist, who was a healthy scratch in the last two games, will draw back in. He skated on the top line beside Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart on Wednesday morning.
Maurice highlighted Boqvist's versatility.
"The advantage of having him come in is that he can play all three forward positions, which gives us some options on either Tomas Nosek returning to the left wing with Barkov and Reinhart — as we did in the last 15 minutes of the third [on Sunday] — or I can move him over to the right as well," the coach said.
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Barkov laughed off the hit from behind he took from Max Domi at the end of Game 4.
"I didn’t see it," the Panthers captain said with a smile. "No, it’s fine. It’s playoff hockey, so things happen."
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Maurice was asked what he would've said if someone told him before the series that Matthews would be held without a goal through four games.
“What’s the series at?" the coach responded.
Tied 2-2.
“Doesn’t f--king matter," he said. "Jonah Gadjovich scored that goal [in Game 3], we didn’t take it from him and give it to Barkov. Nobody cares."
Barkov has two goals in the series with one at even strength.
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During the last two games in Florida, Maurice ended up using his third line, Anton Lundell between Brad Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen, against the Matthews line.
During the two games in Toronto, Berube deployed the Matthews line against the Barkov line and it went well with Toronto winning the battle 3-0 on the scoreboard. With the Leafs back home, Berube will once again be able to dictate the matchups. So, Matthews will likely get a steady dose of Barkov.
That's fine by Maurice. Barkov, after all, is the reigning Selke Trophy winner and nominated again this year.
"I think I’ve caught him making a mistake twice this year," Maurice said. "It made the video too because we had to enjoy that. That and when he takes a penalty. That’s usually a really good one if we catch him on that. He is just so very, very consistent on right decisions and he is egoless ... There’s no cheating the game. He hasn’t cheated for a play or a point in his life. It’s just not who he is and when he’s your captain than everybody has to follow that model."
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Lines at Wednesday's Panthers skate:
F
Boqvist - Barkov - Reinhart
Verhaeghe - Bennett - Tkachuk
Marchand - Lundell - Luostarinen
Gadjovich - Nosek - Greer
D
Forsling - Ekblad
Mikkola - Jones
Schmidt - Kulikov
G
Bobrovsky starts