3 things Matthews & co. need to ensure win over Panthers

The Toronto Maple Leafs meet in another match 7, this time against the Florida Panthers on Sunday evening in Scotiabank Arena.

With a ticket for the final of the Eastern Conference and a date against the Hurricanes of Carolina at stake, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have to advance their best match of the season to reach their first appearance in the final of the conference since 2002.

With this in mind, here is a glimpse of the three things that Auston Matthews and his teammates will have to do to ensure a victory for match 7 over the panthers.

3 things Toronto Maple Leafs must do to guarantee the victory of match 7 over the Panthers

# 3 Avoid unnecessary penalties

The Maple Leafs saw their disciplined game go out the window in matches 4 and 5. In match 4, the Leafs accumulated 27 minutes of penalty, offering the panthers six power game opportunities. In match 5, Toronto accumulated 30 minutes of total penalty and sold four chances of play in power.

The unnecessary quantity of penalties was a major factor in the disturbance of the structured defensive game of the Leafs.

When Toronto is able to stay outside the penalty box, they can establish a solid defensive game, which then opens the ice to increase offensive opportunities. Match 6 was a good example, because the Leafs only took eight minutes of penalty and won the 2-0 match.

# 2 Do not give in to the littleries of the panthers

The Florida Panthers will undoubtedly deploy the Brad Marchand as an extraordinary pest to enter the heads of the Maple Leafs. After all, Marchand won three games 7 against Toronto. So he knows exactly how to get into the head of the leafs.

This is why Craig Berube must be intelligent to deploy his line modifications. Since match 7 is at home, Toronto has the last line change. This will probably mean deploying the Scott Laughton line to counter the influence of Marchand.

By accumulating Laughton and Calle Jarnkrok against Marchand, the Leafs can then allow the Barkov line to accumulate against the Matthews group.

In the end, this could mean that match 7 will be decided by the Combo John Tavares-William Nylander-Max Pacioretty, because the Panthers will have to deploy their line of verification against Tavares, Pacioretty and Nylander.

# 1 Continue to sacrifice the body

The Maple Leafs blocked a total of 31 shots in match 6. This remarkable total avoided a large number of score possibilities for the panthers. As such, this allowed the goalkeeper Joseph Woll to make the stops he owed.

In the future, the Leafs will have to continue to sacrifice the body because the panthers will probably come out hard during the first period. But if match 6 was an indication, a first strong period of Toronto could swing the momentum and the final score, in favor of the Leafs.

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About the author

“Data-Lazy =” Alt = “Nestor Quixtan” Height = “72” Width = “72”>

Nestor is an NHL and MLB writer in Sportskeeda with more than 10 years of experience. Having grown up in Toronto, he became a big fan of the Maple Leafs and Blue Jays, but also admired the New York Islanders and the Los Angeles Dodgers for their domination in the 80s. Tying a major in economics and education, Nestor’s passion for writing and sporting events led him to resume relationships on sport professionally.

Nestor attributes to the leafs qualifying series in the early 90s as having a lasting impact on him. His favorite players are Doug Gilmour and Mike Bossy because he feels that they were hard and talented leaders, while Pat Burns is his favorite coach of all time to always preach a quick game.

Having grown up in Canada, it was natural that Nestor was interested in ice hockey and he played minor hockey in adolescence, which gave him a unique perspective on sport. Nestor has mastered art in the best way to present the facts and he also has the talent of knowing what we can trust the sources and which cannot for stories.

When he does not write about the national passion of Canada, Nestor likes to run and hike.

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Edited by Nestor Quixtan