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The Maple Leafs are on the brink of elimination after dropping Game 5

Originally posted on 6IX ON ICE | By Anthony William | Last updated May 15, 2025 10:38 AM ET

Game 5 at Scotiabank Arena between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers was supposed to be an all-out war. Both teams wanted to take the 3–2 series lead, putting the other on the brink of elimination. Coming off a poorly played 2–0 loss in Game 4, the Maple Leafs were looking for redemption and prove that this team is in fact different.

Craig Berube was cryptic ahead of Game 5 on whether he would make any lineup changes. Ultimately, Berube opted to put Nicholas Robertson in for Pontus Holmberg in the third-line right wing spot, and take out Calle Jarnkrok for David Kampf on the fourth line. Kampf took the centre role, pushing Scott Laughton to the left wing, and moving Steven Lorentz to the right wing.

Unfortunately for Berube, these changes weren’t enough. The Maple Leafs once again let their fans down. Let’s take a look at the storylines coming out of the 6–1 loss against the Panthers.

A continuation from Game 4

The Maple Leafs came off an embarrassing 2–0 loss in Game 4. They returned to home ice, poised to push the Panthers to the brink of elimination, in what’s now a best-of-three series. And what do they do?

Follow that up with an even more embarrassing 6–1 loss. Like in Game 4, the Maple Leafs came out flat. Like in Game 4, the Maple Leafs got drastically outshot, with a shot differential of 13–6 heading into the second period. It was like Game 5 was simply a continuation of Game 4.

The Leafs reverted to Sheldon Keefe hockey over the last two games. They seemingly have forgotten everything Craig Berube and the coaching staff have taught these players for the regular season, the first round of the playoffs, and the first three games of this series.

They dumped, but did not chase. Instead, they tried for rush chances, which kept getting intercepted. They elected for stick checking instead of relentless forechecking and taking the body. Instead of closing gaps in the defensive zone, they gave the Panthers more ice than the ice available in the Arctic.

Like in Game 4, the Maple Leafs were playing not to lose, instead of playing to win. We have seen this movie over and over again.

The Core Four legacy

The Core Four disappeared in last night’s game, further adding to their playoff disappointment statistics. The statistics are especially bad in Games 5, 6, and 7. It’s expected that as a series goes on, the games will get tougher. However, you expect your superstars to rise to the occasion and carry the team. That’s what the money and stardom are for.

Table 1. Table showing the accumulated Games 5, 6, and 7 playoff statistics for the Maple Leafs’ “Core Four ” from 2019 to present.

Player	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points
William Nylander	19	8	8	16
Auston Matthews	17	7	4	11
John Tavares	16	5	5	10
Mitch Marner	19	0	6	6

Pretty abysmal statistics for a group of players who received top dollar. Last night’s game was no exception, with the Florida defenders doing an excellent job at disrupting any chances the Maple Leafs’ superstars tried to generate. Toronto did not even have an offensive zone face-off in the first period.

The Maple Leafs’ power play has been non-existent, going 0–4 on the night. The loaded first power play unit failed to obtain sustained offensive zone pressure. Like we saw in Game 4, they consistently looked for the highlight reel goal instead of shooting the puck on net. How can a $45M power play go 0–6 in two crucial playoff games?

Providing no offence, the Core Four, the leaders of this team, should feel embarrassed at the fact that Joseph Woll was pulled for Matt Murray. Especially after Woll gave them his best playoff performance in his career in Game 4, and they couldn’t score one single goal. This is the legacy of the Core Four. The fans at Scotiabank Arena had every right to boo this team for half of the game.

Where on Earth is Auston Matthews?

The only player to score in last night’s game was Nicholas Robertson. Robertson has one goal in one career second-round playoff game. Auston Matthews has yet to score a goal in the Panthers series. In fact, he has never scored a goal in the second round of the playoffs in his entire career. Matthews leads all players in the NHL playoffs in missed shots.

Matthews is well on his way to being this generation’s Pierre Turgeon. A prolific regular season player, but consistently falls well below expectations in the playoffs. How can anyone look at Matthews’ playoff performance going on nine years and think he’s going to lead a team to a Stanley Cup final? For Matthews’ goal scoring, here is his shooting percentage across different aggregates:

Table 2. Table showing Auston Matthews’ shooting percentage among various aggregates.

Situation	Shooting percentage
Regular Season	15.8%
Playoffs	9.3%
Last 20 playoff games	3.7%
Playoffs vs Panthers	0.0%

Shockingly bad for a three-time Maurice Rocket Richard winner. Combine this with a giveaway that led to the Panthers’ first goal, and what else can be said about Matthews? This is the captain and the one player you look at to put the team on his back, and he failed again. The Maple Leafs have been searching for Matthews’ goal-scoring for nine years now. Where is it?

Onto the next

Game 6 is on Friday in Florida, with the Panthers up 3–2 in the series. It’s ride or die with this group. History is not at all on the Maple Leafs’ side, and at this point, no one would be shocked if they were eliminated on Friday.

However, the old saying, “it’s not over until it’s over,” applies here. The Maple Leafs have one more chance, and if they’re lucky, two more chances to prove to everyone that they are not who they have been in the last eight years. But I think we all know how this ends.

This article first appeared on 6IX ON ICE and was syndicated with permission.

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