Leafs hope playoff-mode Domi will heat up down the stretch

The Maple Leafs lost to the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena. The team took a day off on Friday. 

Max Domi landed a huge hit, dropped his gloves, and scored a big goal during Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers. 

"It's as close to a playoff game as you're going to get," the feisty Leafs forward said. "It's a hell of a hockey team over there. They capitalized on some chances. Obviously, special teams was a difference, but we're going to get some confidence out of this game because we started to play our best hockey in the third and were all over them."

Domi, more than any other Leaf, can draw confidence from the performance.

"He had a heck of a game," coach Craig Berube said. "He was skating and working."

Domi has struggled to make a consistent impact this season, producing just five goals and 26 points in 57 games. He scored nine goals and racked up 47 points in 80 games last year. 

What was it about Thursday's game that brought out his best? 

"Playoff game," he said succinctly. 

Before puck drop, players on both sides made it clear they expected a playoff-style game. The Panthers entered the game with a two-point lead on the Leafs, who have a game in hand, in the race for first place in the Atlantic Division. 

The stakes felt high and Domi was locked in from puck drop. He absolutely levelled Carter Verhaeghe with a massive open-ice hit in the early stages of the first period. He then welcomed the chance to drop the gloves when defenceman Nate Schmidt approached him. 

"Nothing was really said, but I kind of figured," Domi said. "It's a big hit on one of their big players, so I wasn't sure who was going to come up, but I just kind of reacted. It’s part of the game. I might have caught him a little bit on the way down. Obviously, I don't like doing that, but it definitely wasn't my intention. I got a lot of respect for him so, yeah, Schmitty hung in there and it's a part of the game."

Domi put his finger to his ear on the way to the penalty box as the crowd roared its approval. Teammates also loved it.

"Fires everybody up," said winger William Nylander. "He came out hot ... I think everybody was fired up, and that got everybody even more fired up."

In the third period, with the Leafs trailing 3-1, Domi burst down the wing and fired a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky. 

"Bob's a hell of a goalie, so sometimes you just gotta throw it on net and get lucky with it," Domi said. "But when you have that much speed coming down, you don't have to lean on the stick too much, so it's nice for that one to go in for sure."

Berube has implored the pass-first Domi to shoot more basically all season. The goal represented his only shot on net on Thursday. Is he hoping to use his shot more down the stretch? 

"Are you asking me to?" he shot back. 

The reporter responded that Domi has a good shot. 

"Yeah, I'd like to use it more for sure," he said.

Domi is averaging 1.4 shots per game this season. His career average is 1.9. 

"He's got one hell of a shot," said goalie Anthony Stolarz, who fell to 0-2-0 against his old team. "So, when he can get it off in open space like that, he's going to beat a lot of goalies."

Domi caught fire for the Leafs late last season with 15 points in the final 17 regular season games.

"Hopefully this is the start of a little hot streak for him," Stolarz said, "and he gets a little confidence going forward here."

---

As Domi noted, special teams proved to be the difference on Thursday. The Leafs failed to score on three power-play chances while the Panthers cashed on two of their three opportunities. 

The game-winning goal by Sam Bennett came after deadline-acquisition Scott Laughton, making his home debut with his hometown team, failed to clear a loose puck at the blueline. 

"We've got to get that puck out," said Berube, who otherwise liked what he saw from Laughton.

Panthers defenceman Seth Jones managed to keep the puck in despite lying on the ice and having just one hand on his stick.

"There was some serious desperation going on there," he told TSN in an intermission interview. "But then I got up and there was no one around me so I tried to take advantage of that and the boys made a nice play."

"That was an incredible play," Bennett told reporters. "I was just praying he kept it in because I was dead tired and didn’t want to backcheck there. It was a great second effort by him and led to a goal."

The Leafs struggled to generate much on their first two power-play attempts before hitting the post on a third-period opportunity. Toronto also didn't muster much with the goalie pulled late in the game.

"Our execution wasn't great," centre John Tavares admitted. "The first couple of power plays, we just didn't seem to make the right reads or obviously execute with the puck as we needed to."

The Leafs power play had been heating up of late with goals in four straight games (6/14), but that streak came to a crashing halt on Thursday.

"I didn’t think we moved the puck quickly enough," said Berube. "This team takes time and space away from you on their PK. They are very aggressive, and we could’ve moved it quicker. There were opportunities there that we didn’t see. There were a few plays where we shot the puck and missed the net, and it went out of the zone for a clear. We have to make sure we are hitting the net on those plays. There were some backside plays that were available. We didn’t see them."

---

Florida's first power-play goal came after Bennett started a scrum in front of the Leafs net, which led defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson to take a roughing penalty. 

"We talked about how they were going to do all of this stuff," Berube said. "With no whistles, they get in there and get involved. He punched a guy, but they two-handed one of our guys, too. They [referees] just took us. But we have to be more disciplined, no doubt about it. When you play these guys, you can't retaliate."

Stolarz appeared to have his glove on the puck, but the whistle hadn't blown and Bennett promptly poked it free. 

"Thought I had it," said Stolarz. "You look up and, you know, Benny's kind of behind me just pushing away and I go from inside the crease to outside the crease." 

The second Bennett goal came after a too many men penalty. Laughton changed and Bobby McMann appeared to be coming off as well, but the left winger veered back onto the ice at the last moment. However, both Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews jumped on. 

"We can't take that penalty," Berube said. "Those are the ones that kill you."

Florida didn't make those kind of mistakes. One day after a group of Panthers visited the Hockey Hall of Fame to donate one of their Stanley Cup rings, Florida showed off their championship DNA.

"They know what it takes to win," Nylander noted. 

So, what will the Leafs take from the game? 

"Just how tight it’s going to be as you head down the stretch," Tavares said. "And just the level of detail that's needed. It was a real tight hockey game, competed hard, just have to execute a little bit better. It's tight, so it just shows the margins are small and we have to be a little bit better in some areas to tilt play more in our favour, do a good job on special teams, and find ways to have leads, especially late in games."

The Panthers played without defenceman Aaron Ekblad, who is suspended, and wingers Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand, who are injured. 

"There’s some people that have to step up," coach Paul Maurice told reporters. "Matthew is irreplaceable on your power play but Sam Bennett is pretty darn good there finding those holes. So, we’ve had some players step up."  

Bennett relishes the chance to put on a show in Toronto. 

"I always love playing here," the 28-year-old from Holland Landing, Ont. said. "Every time I play here I got lots of support. It’s special."

"He's a big guy," said Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev. "I mean, he plays big. He's not overly big [6-foot-1, 193 pounds] but plays big. He's strong and not afraid. Gets into the tough areas."

The recently-acquired Jones is helping fill the void created by Ekblad. He played 27 minutes and 57 seconds to lead all skaters on Thursday. 

"Just the winning mentality," Jones said when asked what he likes about being a Panther. "You know, it's been great the first couple of weeks. Obviously a little bit different from where I came from [in Chicago]. I'm happy we get to play meaningful games here and play for something."

---

Tanev logged 18 minutes and 15 seconds in his return from an upper-body injury. 

"Not bad," he said of his game. "Bad play on Verhaeghe, the breakaway in the second, but otherwise it’s decent."

Tanev finished plus-one, but committed two giveaways. He did not record a blocked shot despite leading the team in that category this season.  

"He was fine," Berube said. "The timing was a little off for him with the speed of the game, but he did what he normally does for us. He was just fine."

Tanev, who missed six games after getting hurt on Feb. 25 in Boston, skated as the seventh defenceman at Wednesday's practice. When did he know he'd be able to play? 

"We've had a plan based on the doctor's timeline and this is sort of where we were able to check all the boxes and get back in," the 35-year-old said. "And then obviously I wanted to play in a big game."

---

The Leafs took an unscheduled day off on Friday. It was the team's first day off at home since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break. 

"I think our guys have been through a lot and need some rest," Berube said. "We will get some rest and get ready for Saturday."

The Ottawa Senators, who have won five straight games, will visit Scotiabank Arena on Saturday. 

---

Leafs lines to start Thursday's game: 

Knies - Matthews - Marner
Jarnkrok - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Laughton - Domi
Holmberg - Kampf - Lorentz

McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
Benoit - Ekman-Larsson 

Stolarz
Woll