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Brad Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen each had a goal and two assists for the visiting Florida Panthers, who advanced to the Eastern Conference final of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 6-1 win in Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.

Seth Jones had a goal and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov had two assists for the Panthers, who reached the conference final for a third straight year. Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves.

Florida rallied all the way back in the best-of-seven series after dropping the first two games and then trailing by two goals in Game 3, which the Panthers won in overtime.

“Honestly, it turned around because we started playing the way we could,” Marchand said after Sunday’s game. “We didn’t play well in the first two games. They were ready for us and maybe we might have taken it a little for granted or maybe thought it might be a little bit easier. But whatever the reason was, we were not playing in the first two games and even the start of the third, we didn’t play the way that we needed to have success against this group. They came out extremely hard, they pushed harder than I’ve seen them push before.

“Then when we started getting back to the system and the way this team has played for a long time, we started to feel more confident in what we were doing and how we had to play to have success, and we just started playing that brand of hockey,” Marchand continued. “We just got back to playing the aggressive, hard style that this team plays. It’s a tough game to play against.”

Max Domi scored, and Joseph Woll made 28 saves for the Maple Leafs, who haven’t won a Game 7 since 2004.

“I don’t think the moment’s too big for them,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “We went to Ottawa and won Game 6 and won the series. We went to Florida, won Game 6 to make it a Game 7, so the moment’s not too big. For me, it’s all between the ears, it’s a mindset. These guys are capable of doing it. You’ve just got to execute it, and we didn’t execute it. … I don’t have an answer for that, why, but that’s the bottom line.”

Jones gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 3:15 of the second period, carrying the puck to the right circle on a 2-on-1 and firing a wrist shot that beat Woll on the far side over his right shoulder.

“I was just trying to join the rush, be aggressive and try to find an opening, and put a puck to the net,” Jones said. “It was a tight game. I’ve been trying to make a difference offensively and defensively when I can.”

Anton Lundell made it 2-0 at 7:18. Woll stopped a shot from Marchand, but the rebound bounced out in front to the low slot, and Lundell quickly put it past the goalie stick side.

Jonah Gadjovich increased it to 3-0 just over two minutes later. A.J. Greer retrieved his own rebound down low and fed it through the slot over to Gadjovich for a quick wrister that beat Woll five-hole at 9:39.

Florida outshot Toronto 18-5 in the second period.

Domi gave the Maple Leafs some life at 2:07 of the third period. Spotting the Panthers on a line change, Bobby McMann sent a diagonal cross-ice pass to Domi at the Florida blue line, and Domi took it to the left circle for a snap shot that cut the deficit to 3-1.

The Panthers responded 47 seconds later, with Luostarinen redirecting Marchand’s shot from the left wall short side under Woll’s stick to make it 4-1.

“There’s a Brad Marchand effect there. There is,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said of the goals by Lundell and Luostarinen. “Lundell scored tonight. He’s affected those guys in such a positive way about thinking about the game and the small-area plays. I felt those two young guys had it in them but the role that I gave them stunted them. … There’s not a lot of creativity in the way that I coach, right? It’s pretty simple. Brad comes in and says ‘Hey, we can do all those things but we can also make some plays around here, fellas.’ … Eetu has got some pretty good hands.”

Sam Reinhart extended the lead to 5-1 at 9:24. Barkov won the faceoff and Reinhart was first to retrieve the loose puck above the left circle, snapping it through traffic over Woll’s left shoulder.

Toronto pulled Woll for the extra attacker with more than four minutes remaining and Marchand put one into the empty net at 16:57 for the 6-1 final.

“I thought the first 10 minutes (of the first period) they came out strong, and then next 10 minutes I thought we controlled play,” Maple Leafs star center Auston Matthews said. “And then I just thought we had too many passengers throughout the rest of the game and we just weren’t on the same page. They get a couple of goals and momentum like that, and then you’re chasing the game and it’s hard to get it back when you’re down three against a good team that plays sound defensively like them.”

–Field Level Media