It was Game 3 of the second round, and the Florida Panthers were back on home ice, down two games to zero to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs were the better team in the first two games and jumped out to a 3-1 lead early in the second period.
But the Panthers did what they do best, stayed persistent and worked their way back into the game. The Panthers scored three unanswered goals to take a 4-3 lead in the second period, but a goal by Morgan Rielly at the halfway mark of the third period tied the game, sending it to overtime.
The Maple Leafs and Brad Marchand have a long history dating back to his time with the Boston Bruins, and the overtime frame added to it.
It was a back-and-forth overtime stanza, but a fortunate bounce from a shot by Marchand got the Panthers back into the series.
“I think there was always a little pressure, but I got to say, somehow we were so confident that we were going to turn the series over because we felt like in every game, we were the better team, but we lost. So we believed that in seven games, we should be able to win four,” Anton Lundell said to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas for 32 Thoughts: The Podcast during the European NHL Player Media Tour in Milan, Italy..
“Obviously, they were such a good team, like, it was a hard series. I mean, they were up in Game 3, 3-1 in the second or something, and when we won that game, that was the game-changer. We were like, ‘Okay, now it’s our time to press the gas, now we go.’ But I got to say, if we were to lose that game, it could’ve been a different series for sure.”
Lundell finished the series against the Maple Leafs with two goals and five points, playing difficult minutes against both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner as well as John Tavares and William Nylander.
Although the series wouldn't have been over if the Maple Leafs had won Game 3, it's extremely difficult to envision the Panthers winning four consecutive games against a Leafs team that looked that confident. The Game 3 loss changed things mentally for both the Leafs and the Panthers.
That mental edge is why the Panthers are in a situation where they can chase a three-peat. When speaking to Friedman and Bukauskas, Lundell said that winning the third will be the toughest task, mentioning that an even bigger target will be on their back.
Can Florida Panthers' Anton Lundell Take The Next Step If One Really Doesn't Exist?Florida Panthers' Anton Lundell has continued to improve and is one of the NHL's better two-way centers, but he's almost stuck as a third-line center despite deserving a larger role.
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