Maple Leafs prepare for Game 7 after bounce back win in Florida

The Toronto Maple Leafs regained momentum with a 2-0 victory over the Panthers in Florida in Game 6, now all focus turns to perhaps the biggest game of the 21st century for the franchise on Sunday.

For everything that went wrong in the team's 6-1 deflating defeat on home ice in Game 5, the Maple Leafs seemed to have a correction in Game 6's win.

Joseph Woll was much stronger, turning away all 22 shots he faced for his first career postseason shutout after allowing five goals on 25 shots on Wednesday.

Captain Auston Matthews finally put one in the net, giving Toronto a 1-0 lead early in the third period for his first goal of the series and first second-round goal in the playoffs of his career.

And the team in general did a good job of cleaning up the sloppy mistakes that plagued them in Game 5.

“We came out and skated, were on our toes, played our game," head coach Craig Berube said after the win. "We played a simple game tonight and were determined. That stands out to me more than anything...We were doing all the little things right."

Woll made his fifth start of the series after he was thrust into action midway through Game 1. Anthony Stolarz, who had started every game in the first round against the Ottawa Senators, was injured when he took an elbow to the side of the head by Panthers forward Sam Bennett, and does not appear to be close to returning.

The team has stayed confident in Woll, and he paid them off with arguably the biggest performance of his career on Friday.

“This is a pretty special opportunity for our team," Woll said. “We felt good going in. We know our process and we’re going to carry that through."

“[Woll] made some big saves," Matthews said after the game. "I thought we competed hard and obviously broke through in the third. We gritted it out. Really proud of all the guys in the room from top to bottom. We stuck together. There’s a lot of noise on the outside, but the main focus is on the 20-plus guys in the room every day playing for one another."

Matthews told reporters after the game that he was most proud of the team's "willingness to grind through 60 minutes like that in a tight game."

Panthers prepared for Game 7

The Panthers are no strangers to moments like this - having won a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final just a year ago to knock off the Edmonton Oilers.

Given how the series started - with a 2-0 series lead for the Maple Leafs - Florida isn't about to back down.

“They took care of one on our home ice," Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "They played really well and did what they did earlier in the series by blocking shots. We had a good push in the second, but they played really well in the third once they got the lead there.

"Back to the drawing board, I guess. We were down 2-0 in this series, so we would have loved a Game 7. We’re not going to sit here and pout about it."

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice couldn't help but tip his cap to the Maple Leafs for their effort in Game 6.

“We didn’t get the puck there early enough, but we launched it a bunch of times,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “I thought we were late with the puck...There’s not much offense, and these are two pretty good offensive teams, yet there was not much to be had out there. They played hard, we played hard, and it was tight.”

Toronto blocked 31 of 81 shot attempts by the Panthers in the victory.

Storylines that will dominate Game 7

The Maple Leafs may be missing a top forward for Game 7, as Matthew Knies was in and out of the lineup after the first period. He appeared to be in discomfort late in the period, and Berube was non-committal about his status for the deciding game on Sunday.

“He is dealing with something that happened here," Berube said. “We have to look at him, see how he’s feeling [Saturday], see how he is.”

Toronto's struggles in these moments have been well-documented. In the 'Core Four' era - since the foursome of John Tavares, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews have been playing together - the team is 2-14 in games in which they can advance with a win.

That includes a 1-2 record in the first round against the Senators, when they struggled for a pair of games after taking a 3-0 series lead before eventually slamming the door shut in Game 6.

Toronto has also dropped six consecutive Game 7s dating back to 2013, when they were eliminated in overtime by the Boston Bruins.