The Panthers and Maple Leafs will play the 19th Game 7 in South Florida sports history on Sunday night in Toronto. The locals have piled up a stellar 12-6 record in these games.
The game at Scotiabank Arena will be the seventh of these games to have been contested on the road.
Here is a look at those past 18 series that went to a seventh game.
GEORGE WIDMAN / Associated Press
Florida Panthers goalie John Vanbiesbrouck, right, shakes hands with Pittsburgh Penguins Jaromir Jagr after game 7 of their Eastern Conference playoff series in Pittsburgh, Saturday June 1, 1996. The Panthers defeated the Penguins 3-1 and will meet the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup finals. (AP Photo / George Widman)
1996: Panthers def. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS 3-1 (Eastern Conference finals)
Tom Fitzgerald rocketed the go-ahead goal early in the third period and assisted on the insurance with 2:37 left as goalie John Vanbiesbrouck stars in goal against future Hall of Famers Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and co.
RICK BOWMER / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning, right, congratulates guard Tim Hardaway after a score against the Knicks. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
1997: HEAT def. New York Knicks 101-90 (Eastern Conference semifinals)
In Pat Riley’s second season, Tim Hardaway closed out the Knicks with a dominant showing, piling up a career playoff-best 38 points, along with seven assists and five steals. The effort warded off a 37-point, 17-rebound masterpiece by Patrick Ewing.
PRESTON MACK / Sun Sentinel
Craig Counsell leaping in celebration after scoring the winning run in the 11th inning of Game 7 against the Cleveland Indians has become the most iconic image in Marlins history. Counsell, whose sacrifice fly tied the game in the ninth, scored on Renteria’s soft liner that glanced off pitcher Charles Nagy’s glove and found its way into center field. At the victory parade in Miami, Livan Hernandez, the Cuban defector who was voted Series MVP, drew cheers when he took the microphone and proclaimed, “I love you, Miami!”
1997: FLORIDA MARLINS def. Cleveland Indians 3-2, 11 innings (World Series)
Things were looking sub-optimal as Cleveland led 2-0 at the seventh-inning stretch. However, Bobby Bonilla led off the bottom of the seventh by crushing a ball over the wall in right-center field. Then, with one out in the bottom of the ninth with Moises Alou at third base, Craig Counsell lined a sacrifice fly to right. In the 11th inning, after Devon White hit a one-out bases-loaded grounder that resulted at a force at the plate, Edgar Renteria slapped a soft liner up the middle that dropped for a single, driving in Counsell for South Florida’s first major sports title since January of 1974.
Staff file photo/Robert Duyos
Pat Riley screams at official Dan Crawford as he runs by him during Game 7 of the Heat-Knicks playoff series in 2000.
2000: New York Knicks def. HEAT 83-82 (Eastern Conference semifinals)
A weird Game Seven where the game’s final scoring came with 1:20 left in the game on a Patrick Ewing dunk after Alonzo Mourning came up empty on a steal attempt. The Heat then missed three short jumpers, the final one by Clarence Weatherspoon from 12 feet out with 2.1 seconds left after Jamal Mashburn had passed to Weatherspoon instead of taking a shot from basically the same spot with 10 seconds remaining.
Morry Gash / AP
Chicago Cubs left fielder Moises Alou’s arm is seen reaching into the stands, right, unsuccessfully for a foul ball as fan Steve Bartman deflects the ball, at top, in the eighth inning during Game 6 of the National League championship series against the Florida Marlins on Oct. 14, 2003, at Wrigley Field.
2003: Marlins def. CHICAGO CUBS 9-6 (National League Championship Series)
The Marlins had trailed 3-1 after four games before rallying. In the top of the fifth inning at Wrigley Field, Florida, down 5-3, got its leadoff batter on as Brian Banks walked. After a strikeout, Luis Castillo hit a foul fly that Moises Alou jumped for, only to have his efforts thwarted by a fan making a play on the ball himself. Castillo went on to walk. A Pudge Rodriguez double to left followed, a hit that, with a Castillo out instead of a walk, would have put runners at second and third with two out. Instead, Banks scored to make it 5-4 with one out. Miguel Cabrera then grounded out to first base, tying the game on what could have been the inning’s final out had Alou caught the Castillo fly. The Marlins then piled on four more runs and were off to the World Series against the Yankees.
Eliot J. Schechter / Getty Images
MIAMI – MAY 4: Caron Butler #4 of the Miami Heat reacts after dunking over Baron Davis of the New Orleans Hornets in the first quarter of Game seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2004 NBA Playoffs May 4, 2004 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Caron Butler ORG XMIT: 50796225
2004: HEAT def. New Orleans Hornets 85-77 (Eastern Conference first round)
Caron Butler poured in 15 points and five rebounds in the first half as Miami seized a 41-31 halftime lead, going on to hold their ground in the second half.
Brian Bahr, Getty Images
The Heat’s Damon Jones against the Detroit Pistons in 2005 (AP file photo)
2005: Detroit Pistons def. HEAT 88-82 (Eastern Conference finals)
The Heat led by six points with less than 7 minutes to go, but Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace combined for 13 points down the stretch as the Pistons closed on a 20-8 run.
2009: ATLANTA HAWKS def. Heat 91-78 (Eastern Conference first round)
The Hawks got 12 points from Joe Johnson in a dominant second quarter where Atlanta pushed its lead to 13 points at the intermission, and the Heat never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
2012: New Jersey Devils def. PANTHERS 3-2, double-overtime (Eastern Conference first round)
The Panthers made a valiant push from being down 2-0 in the third period, registering power-play goals by Stephen Weiss and Marcel Goc, but Adam Henrique, who had gotten his first career playoff goal to open the game’s scoring, corraled a loose puck and fired a shot from the slot that got between the legs of Jose Theodore 3:47 into the second extra session.
2012: HEAT def. Boston Celtics 101-88 (Eastern Conference finals)
With the score 73-73 after three quarters, the Heat’s Big Three took over, with LeBron James (11 points), Dwyane Wade (nine) and Chris Bosh (8) scoring all of Miami’s 28 fourth-quarter points, with the Heat also dominant on the glass with 12 rebounds in those final 12 minutes.
2013: HEAT def. Indiana Pacers 99-76 (Eastern Conference finals)
The Pacers led 23-19 early in the second quarter, but then LeBron James imposed his will, going to the free-throw line an astounding 14 times in those final three quarters. The Heat dominated the second quarter 33-16 and James went on to score 32 points.
2013: HEAT def. San Antonio Spurs 95-88 (NBA Finals)
Mario Chalmers’ 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter gave the Heat a 72-71 lead entering the final 12 minutes, and they never relinquished that advantage, propelled by a huge sequence by LeBron James in the final minute. Coming out of a timeout while leading 90-88, James, who scored 69 points in games 6 and 7, drilled a 19-footer with 27.9 seconds left, and then stole the ball after an errant pass from Manu Ginobili to Tim Duncan from under the basket with 23.8 left to seal the deal.
2016: HEAT def. Charlotte Hornets 106-73 (Eastern Conference first round)
It was a laugher from the tip as the Hornets never led in the game with Goran Dragic scoring 25 points and the Heat piling up 58 rebounds.
2016: TORONTO RAPTORS def. Heat 116-89 (Eastern Conference semifinals)
The Heat, trailing most of the game, had inched back to within 88-80 early in the fourth quarter, but then the Raptors scorched Miami with a 28-9 game-ending stretch. Future Heat player Kyle Lowry was sensational with 35 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals.
2022: Boston Celtics def. HEAT 100-96 (Eastern Conference finals)
Behind Jayson Tatum’s eight points and six rebounds in the first quarter, Boston seized a 32-17 lead, and the Heat couldn’t fully recover. Trailing 98-96, Jimmy Butler’s go-ahead 3-point attempt went off the front rim with 16 seconds left.
2023: Panthers def. BOSTON BRUINS 4-3, overtime (Eastern Conference first round)
The introduction to the Paul Maurice playoff Panthers was a wild ride as the team reached Game 7 after trailing three games to one in the series and reverting back to Sergei Bobrovsky as their starting goalie mid-series. In the final game, with the goalie pulled, Brandon Montour scored with 59.3 seconds left in regulation, sneaking the puck past Jeremy Swayman’s short side from the left circle. In overtime, Carter Verhaeghe took a pass from Sam Bennett and beat Swayman from the right circle.
2023: Heat def. BOSTON CELTICS 103-84 (Eastern Conference finals)
The Heat had seemingly wrapped up this series a week earlier, leading three games to none. However, the Celtics, propelled by a buzzer-beating putback by Derrick White in Game 6, forced the ultimate game back in Boston. Luckily for stressed-out Heat fans, the suspense was short-lived as the Heat took a 13-11 lead on a 3-pointer by Max Strus with 3:28 left in the first quarter and led the rest of the way.
2024: PANTHERS def. Edmonton Oilers 2-1 (Stanley Cup Final)
Barely a year after the Heat allowed the Celtics to force a Game 7 after once owning a 3-0 series lead, the Panthers saw the same thing happen against the Edmonton Oilers, with Connor McDavid and company inundating Florida with 18 goals in those three straight Oilers wins. Luckily for the Panthers, the final game was in Sunrise and the defense again found its footing. Late in the second period, after a prime scoring chance by Edmonton’s Warren Foegele, Sam Reinhart, who had carried the puck all the way from behind his own blue line, ripped a shot over Stuart Skinner’s shoulder on the short side.
ALL-CAPS denotes home team
Originally Published: May 18, 2025 at 8:47 AM EDT