SUNRISE, FL – You could feel it in the building — a playoff boil, Game 3 in overtime, and the Toronto Maple Leafs were this close to pushing the defending Stanley Cup champions to the brink.
Then? Boom. Heartbreak. Off a skate. Game over. Series on.
Brad Marchand fired a puck toward the net at 15:27 of overtime, and in a cruel twist of fate, it deflected off Morgan Rielly and past a screened Joseph Woll, giving the Florida Panthers a 5-4 win and injecting new life into their second-round hopes.
Instead of heading into Game 4 with a 3-0 stranglehold, the Leafs are now nursing a 2-1 series lead, and a whole lot of “what-if” baggage.
Rielly at the Center of It All
For Morgan Rielly, the longest-serving Leaf and the heartbeat of the blue line, it was another chapter in a postseason book filled with nearlys and not quites.
He was everywhere Friday night — and the hockey gods noticed.
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First, a fluke own-goal off his blade as Aleksander Barkov crashed the net.
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Then, he leveled the score with a pinpoint wrister that bounced off Seth Jones and in to make it 4-4.
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Finally, the dagger: a Marchand shot changes direction off Rielly in OT. Game. Set. Regret.
“Stuff happens,” Rielly said post-game, trying to shake off the sting. “Pucks are going in weird ways this whole postseason. That’s just how it is.”
What Could Have Been a Historic Night… Wasn’t
Had Toronto found the winner, they’d be one win away from their first Eastern Conference Final appearance in two decades. Instead, the Panthers claw back in, and Game 4 on Sunday is now a pressure cooker.
“We’re still up in the series,” Rielly added. “There are good things happening, we just need to clean up a few areas and keep building.”
Woll Wobbles, Panthers Pounce
Toronto netminder Joseph Woll didn’t have his best night — rebound control, puck handling, and net-front reads were shaky. He made 37 saves, but too many second-chance opportunities kept Florida in the fight.
“You shake it off,” Woll said. “That’s playoff hockey. Bounces go both ways.”
But in the playoffs, one bad bounce can become a momentum landslide. Will the Leafs recover, or will this be the turning point?
These Leafs Aren’t Built Like the Old Ones… Or Are They?
Under Craig Berube, this Leafs squad has shown a new kind of resilience. From Max Pacioretty’s clutch Game 6 goal against Ottawa to Mitch Marner’s quick response in Game 2, this team has shown it can bounce back fast.
But this? This is a bigger test. Bigger stakes. Bigger ghosts.
They’ve been here before. Just not like this. Rielly’s been the emotional anchor through 873 regular season games, 66 playoff contests, and more Game 7 heartbreaks than he’d care to remember. But if this team is different — if it’s finally the team — it’ll show in Game 4.
Berube’s message? Simple.
Stay the course. Dig in. Respond.
Up Next: Game 4 – Everything on the Line Again
Game 4 drops Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. ET from Amerant Bank Arena. It’s not a must-win — but it sure feels like one.
For a franchise long haunted by missed chances and Game 7 collapses, the next 60 minutes might be the most telling yet.
Because one bounce the wrong way has already changed the story. The question is — can the Leafs write a different ending?
