Written by Graeme on Sunday, May 18th, 2025
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The Dallas Stars made it to the next round of the NHL playoffs, with a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in OT. It was an intense one, and despite the loss, very nice to see Scheifele get that goal.
We now move on to the final game of this round, as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Florida Panthers in Game 7.
Is Marchand going to come back to haunt the Leafs? The Leafs won the first two games in Toronto by 1 goal. They had that crushing OT loss to the Panthers in Game 3, then shit the bed the next two games.
They went to Florida where the Panthers looked lethargic, and managed to get the win.
Leafs vs Panthers Game 7
Scott: Well the Leafs managed to pick up a huge win in Florida. There was no goals until thr 3rd period when Matthews. He scored his first goal of the series and first against Florida in more than a year.
The Leafs blocked 31 shots and kept the shot count on Woll to 22 but the Leafs only managed 17. The hits were 58 – 35 for the Panthers.
I picked the Leafs to win the series and now they have a chance at home. With Matthews getting on the board I’m sure it’s going to help the Leafs here.
Leafs win incl OT
Graeme: In the first two games, both teams were really up for it but the Leafs came out winners. Even in Game 3, which was such a tight one, the Leafs were up for it.
I think just based on value, the fact that we are at Game 7 and it’s in Toronto – the Leafs at above 2.00 odds are a sure value bet.
But I’m going to go for Matthews to score at 2.50 odds instead. Reason being I think he can carry the momentum from last game here and grab a goal in front of the Toronto fans who 72 hours ago were demanding he be stuck in a box and shipped to Arizona.
Shaky Lean: Full game UNDER 6.0
It’s the Leafs. Which Leafs will show up? Home game fans will help to some degree, but Florida has been through many playoff rounds and will be resilient. Knies will probably play, according to the coach. The Leafs showed up just fine in the last game on the beach, so now they should play well. Toronto needs depth scoring today and to attack for 60 minutes, taking all the initiative, nothing less.
Reviewing all playoff Game 7’s since 2017, while there is a pattern of the UNDER result at about 60-75% of those games, it remains to research the teams and series involved. The Leafs have legitimate ambitions this year and to my eyes and the data sheets, Florida is not the once invincible prospect they were in some previous years. Bobrovsky is keeping them in it, but Toronto can skate and make plays often enough. I think Florida is vulnerable here, they are NOT consistently fast! I’ve seen some handicappers mention how this game should be low scoring and I agree with the reasoning, but would prefer to bump it a goal to 7.0, which I may do. But I don’t feel safe with that either.
If you look at regular season these 2 teams…. Under 6 has been the norm, with the pressure and intensity of game 7 and goaltending being as good as it has after first3 games… i think it happens.
Odds suck at under 7 but yeah…
I am go with Leafs 20 units. Do it also for me; otherwise we are going home together