Photo credit: Sam Navarro – Imagn Images
Sam Bennett‘s elbow on Sergei Bobrovsky was one of many examples of the Maple Leafs forcing the Panthers off their game towards the end of Game 6, and Max Domi had a hand in the play.The Toronto Maple Leafs staved off elimination and lived to see another day after an epic 2-0 win in Game 6 off the backs of Auston Matthews, Max Pacioretty, and Joseph Woll — though the entire time was noticeably more engaged on Friday.
The Florida Panthers had won 3 straight games since falling down to an 0-2 hole in their best-of-7-series against the Maple Leafs but were unable to finish things off on home ice last night and a part of that could be attributed to the Leafs intense pressure.
For once, the Panthers looked human in this series. Their passes were far from crisp, their power play was uneventful and uninspiring, and as head coach Paul Maurice said after the game, he saw his team gripping their sticks too tight, which is something that could not have been said prior to Game 6.
All of this and more culminated in Sam Bennett’s elbow to Sergei Bobrovsky’s head in the 3rd period. Max Domi made a great play, coming out and away from the boards and fired a shot towards the goal on his knees before Bennett came out of nowhere and elbowed his own goaltender.
It looked like Bennett was making a bee-line towards Domi, but backed out at the last second when Domi went down to his knees, which then resulted in him knocking his goaltender into the crossbar and having his mask come off.
It was also perhaps the first time all series that Bennett refrained from finishing a check on a Leaf, considering he has 35 hits through the first 6 games. The way everything went down on that play could be a slight indication that the Leafs are in the Panthers’ heads for once heading into what is expected to be a gruelling Game 7.
The Maple Leafs will hope that that trend continues tomorrow night when the scene shifts to Scotiabank Arena as both teams look to finish off the series in style and book their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.
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