Overtime loss wasn’t pointless

There was a lot to like about the near-perfect game the Leafs played against the Panthers

The Maple Leafs have certainly scored more goals in a game, and they have certainly had better results against other opponents.

But even though the Florida Panthers prevailed 3-2 in overtime, on a goal by Brandon Montour, there was a lot to like about the way the Leafs played at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night.

They controlled the play for one thing, for almost the entire game. When things didn’t go their way, they simply hammered away, believing their hard work would be rewarded.

When an Auston Matthews onetimer beat goalie Alex Lyon at 13:20 of the third, they thought they had indeed been rewarded. It was Matthews’s team-leading 37th goal. But Sam Reinhart forced overtime with a power-play goal at 19:01.

“Outside of the first five minutes, I thought we played a pretty good game,” said Matthews. “Obviously it sucks not getting that extra point.”

Wins and losses matter less to the Leafs, though they do want to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. They look like a team that is working out the kinks, winning its share of puck battles and finding chemistry and preparing for the playoffs.

Standing in the way of a near-perfect game, though, was Lyon, an unheralded goalie called up after an injury to Spencer Knight. The 30year-old is the definition of a journeyman. The Panthers are his fourth NHL team and Wednesday’s game was his 32nd in the NHL over a seven-season career spent mostly in the minors.

The Panthers are holding on for their playoff lives and while they were opportunistic against the Leafs, they didn’t really do much but make their coach angry until it was almost too late. They were in need of a hero and Lyon provided the heroics. Then Reinhart and Montour helped them move within a point of a playoff spot.

Zach Aston-Reese scored for the Leafs in the second period, while Ilya Samsonov put in a solid performance in his first game since the birth of his first child, Miroslav. The single point gives the Leafs an eight-point cushion over thirdplace Tampa for home ice.

Panther pride

The Panthers don’t mind saying just how desperate they are to get into the playoffs, and how much they’re watching the scoreboard. It’s also quite remarkable how much they believe they’ll make it.

“It is pro sports. We’re not 14 points out; we’re right there,” said coach Paul Maurice. “It’s probably five teams real nervous every morning when they wake up. And the other option is, what? If you lived your life waking up every morning without belief, or thinking bad things were going to happen, you just would never get to the National Hockey League.”

As reasonable as Maurice was at the morning skate, he was far from it during the game: the loudest person in the rink, screaming at his players to wake up in the second period and at the referees after penalties called against Florida.

Lyon’s share

The Leafs, meanwhile, are more focused on getting their game in gear for the playoffs.

“We have a couple of areas of our game that we want to work on, so we’re going to chip away at it,” said defenceman Morgan Rielly. “We’re not really too worried about comparing our style of hockey right now versus what’s going to be in a couple of weeks. I think it’s more just trying to get yourself ready as an individual and get to a point where you feel confident.”

The Leafs played an almost perfect first period — almost — and dominated just about every facet, outshooting Florida 14-7. Outside of a late penalty to Mitch Marner, the period was largely played in front of Lyon, who was even better.

In the first minute, Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe made an odd choice with the puck. He had plenty of safer options, but chose to pass in front of the Leafs net to John Tavares, who wasn’t expecting it. Tavares bobbled the pass, and within couple of seconds Anton Lundell had put one past Samsonov. So, while all the metrics favoured the Leafs — from expected goals to high-danger chances — the score favoured Florida 1-0 in the period.

The Leafs were even better in the second, holding Florida without a shot for the first 10 minutes. But one goal was all Toronto could muster: Aston-Reese tipping in a T.J. Brodie point shot to tie the game. Calle Järnkrok thought he had given the Leafs a 2-1 lead on the next shift, but it was called back on an offside. Aston-Reese had a chance for his second, but missed on a penalty shot.