{"id":473768,"date":"2026-02-26T21:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/473768\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T21:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:52:10","slug":"maple-leafs-aiming-to-dial-up-desperation-against-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/473768\/","title":{"rendered":"Maple Leafs aiming to dial up desperation against Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Florida Panthers<\/a> skated at Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Thursday.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

The Leafs are aiming to dial up the desperation as they continue an uphill push toward a playoff spot on Thursday night in south Florida. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that, especially after a night like [Wednesday], we just have to continue to be better,\u201d said centre John Tavares<\/a>. \u201cThere\u2019s obviously only so many games left. All we can control is one at a time, but urgency has to be high.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Leafs returned from the Olympic break with a thud in losing 4-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> on Wednesday. Toronto will wrap up its two-game swing through Florida on Thursday against the defending champion Florida Panthers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Toronto is six points out of a playoff spot with 24 games remaining. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery point matters,\u201d said winger Matthew Knies<\/a>. \u201cSo, yeah, we got to be focused and just give a better effort, you know, play like we\u2019re a team fighting for the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida sits two points behind Toronto and can pass their division rival with a regulation win. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be intense,\u201d said Panthers winger Brad Marchand<\/a>. \u201cBoth teams are fighting for their lives … It\u2019s going to be a playoff-type game. We\u2019re going to expect their best and we expect ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leafs coach Craig Berube<\/a> felt his team came out flat in the second period on Wednesday night, which allowed the Lightning to take control of the game. \u201cIt has to be for 60 minutes,\u201d Berube said when asked about his team\u2019s desperation level. \u201cIt is something we discuss all the time. We played a good first period. We have to come out ready for the second.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Toronto should not be trying to figure out where they are\u2026’ In a new Ray & Dregs podcast, Ray Ferraro and Darren Dreger discuss the Leafs\u2019 direction after their loss to in Tampa and Keith Pelley\u2019s letter to season ticket holders. <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Berube lamented a lack of execution in Wednesday\u2019s loss pointing out that his team failed to land a shot on net on their three 2-on-1 chances in the first period. <\/p>\n

Did the long layoff between games lead to rust?<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that they have a little bit more players that played in the Olympics, but that\u2019s no excuse,\u201d Knies said. \u201cI think we\u2019re both dealing with that, just kind of getting back from it. So, we just didn\u2019t execute on the little details of our game. And, again, we just got to be more desperate, stay out of the box, play a bit more hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Leafs had three players suit up at the Olympics while the Lightning had eight. The Panthers had 10. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll of those guys played at as high a level as you\u2019re going to see outside of the playoffs potentially,\u201d said Panthers coach Paul Maurice. \u201cVery fast, very quick. So that\u2019s what we got to bank on. The guys that came back, they\u2019ve played. They didn\u2019t get a lot of rest, fine, but our guys are used to that. It\u2019s been three years of it, so we\u2019re expecting those guys to be sharp.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of the Panthers Olympians took part in Thursday\u2019s morning skate. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely a little adjustment period,\u201d said centre Sam Bennett<\/a>, who played for Team Canada. \u201cA little bit of jet lag and tiredness, but for the most part, it\u2019s not too bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Panthers had seven players in action through the medal round. The Leafs had just one in Auston Matthews<\/a>, who helped Team USA win the gold. Matthews logged nearly 23 minutes on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was fine,\u201d Berube said. \u201cI used him a lot at the end, obviously, with the goalie out. They did some really good things with the goalie out. I didn\u2019t sense he was tired or anything like that. He was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthews was not available to the media after Wednesday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Leafs Ice Chips: Berube sees no fatigue in Matthews; Maurice expects Olympians to be sharp The Panthers will play their first game since the Olympic break and all 10 of their Olympians were on the ice Thursday morning ahead of the game against the Maple Leafs. What is head coach Paul Maurice expecting from his players who participated in Milano Cortina 2026? TSN’s Mark Masters reports. <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

The Panthers will honour their Olympians as well as Matthews in a pre-game ceremony. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be really special,\u201d said winger Matthew Tkachuk<\/a>, who was teammates with Matthews in Milan. \u201cI think the building\u2019s going to go nuts. Just from what I\u2019ve seen the last couple days here, people are just so excited and appreciative of our team. Like, I really think our team really showed what it\u2019s like to be true Americans and the pride we played with and how we would do every single thing for our country. So, the support we\u2019ve gotten is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tkachuk wishes Matthews got a little more love. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so incredible for our team and as a captain, as a leader, everything on and off the ice,\u201d Tkachuk said. \u201cHe still doesn\u2019t get credit for the player he is and I\u2019ll never understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the warm words between the pair will give way to fierce competition on Thursday night. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were joking at E11even [nightclub on Monday night], like we might have to just slash each other in the face and get kicked out,\u201d Tkachuk said with a grin. \u201cBut we have to flip the switch. Both of our teams are out of the playoff race right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Roof might fall off’: Tkachuk feels Matthews deserves more credit; eager to share love in ceremony Teammates will once again turn foes as the Maple Leafs visit the Panthers in a matchup that will feature prominent Team USA players on either side. Matthew Tkachuk spoke about what it will be like to go up against Auston Matthews and the buzz that will be in the building to celebrate the success of the American team. <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a whirlwind few days for Tkachuk since winning gold on Sunday. He partied with teammates on Monday night in Miami before visiting with U.S. president Donald Trump at the White House and attending the State of the Union address on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

\u201cLast night was the first good sleep, first time actually getting, I don\u2019t know, I got a lot of hours last night,\u201d Tkachuk said. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a much more subdued return to Florida for the four Canadian Olympians on the Panthers roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a weird dynamic,\u201d said Marchand. \u201cObviously, we\u2019re disappointed and you want a different outcome but, at the same time, trying to remember to be grateful for the incredible part of it all … it was a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think as time passes a little bit, we\u2019ll digest it a little bit more,\u201d said winger Sam Reinhart<\/a>. \u201cObviously, it\u2019s an opportunity you can only ever dream of. It\u2019s something you think about from a young age and never know if it\u2019s going to be a possibility. I think that aspect is something that\u2019s maybe going to sink it a little bit more as time passes, but obviously it\u2019s pretty raw right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canada won its quarter-final game against Czechia in overtime before beating Finland on a last minute goal in the semifinal. It felt like they would be the team of destiny. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo feel what we felt on the ice after that quarters, after that semis, was truly something I\u2019ve never felt on the ice after a game,\u201d Reinhart said. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes it sting that much more.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘It’s pretty raw right now’: Reinhart still hasn’t processed Team Canada’s loss Sam Reinhart admits that time is still needed to process Canada’s loss to the U.S. at the Olympics and spoke about how the quick turnaround to focusing on the NHL will help. The Panthers forward also touched on how special it was to score a big goal in the semifinals for his country. <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Tkachuk wore his gold medal during his media session, but kept it in his pocket while walking around the Panthers facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got here early to take pictures with some of the staff and whoever wanted to, but kept it away from the players,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think any players have seen it. A couple, actually a couple of the Americans I showed. So, they were really proud and they thought it was really cool, but no, I just pulled it out of my pocket right before walking in here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is there any awkwardness with his Canadian teammates?<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely not,\u201d Tkachuk said. \u201cI mean, we\u2019re all competitors. We\u2019re all first and foremost players for the Florida Panthers<\/a> and especially what we\u2019ve built over the last few years. Like, the relationships we have in that room are as good as you\u2019re ever going to find.\u201d<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Knies used the Olympic break to rest a nagging knee injury and gear up for the stretch drive. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt good energy-wise, legs-wise,\u201d he said of his first game back. \u201cIt takes a shift or two to kind of get back into the physicality of things, but I felt great. But I think a little bit of the execution, again with me, too, just making passes, I think I fanned on a few that, you know, could have been grade-A chances. So I got to clean those little things up, and I should be good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tavares, who is 35, also hoped the break would serve him well. Although the benefit of that layoff was muted by an illness that knocked him out of practice on Tuesday. How did he feel in Tampa? <\/p>\n

\u201cNot bad,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving the extra day [off the ice] helped me a lot, but still improving.\u201d<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Projected Panthers lineup for Thursday\u2019s game:<\/p>\n

Verhaeghe – Rodrigues – Reinhart<\/p>\n

Samoskevich – Bennett – Tkachuk<\/p>\n

Marchand – Lundell – Luostarinen<\/p>\n

Greer – Schwindt – Vilmanis<\/p>\n

Forsling – Ekblad<\/p>\n

Mikkola – Balinskis<\/p>\n

Sebrango – Petry<\/p>\n

Bobrovsky starts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Florida Panthers skated at Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Thursday. — The Leafs are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5106],"tags":[4759,33999,33779,5,20,5172,35233,33780,4,66,31,32467,5171],"class_list":{"0":"post-473768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-auston-matthews-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8479318","10":"tag-florida-panthers-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-13","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-maple-leafs","13":"tag-mapleleafs","14":"tag-matthew-knies-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8482720","15":"tag-matthew-tkachuk-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8479314","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-toronto","18":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","19":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-10","20":"tag-torontomapleleafs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116139153517539972","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}