Veteran Max Pacioretty draws on playoff experience to help seal Game 6 win

Deep teams win Cups.

It’s something you’ve no doubt heard time and time again in recent weeks. And on Friday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs proved that they can be the proverbial deep team, with contributions from up and down their roster en route to a 2-0 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 6. Auston Matthews picked up his first goal of the series, Joseph Woll got his first career playoff shutout, and in the bottom six, veteran attacker Max Pacioretty added the insurance goal that sealed the deal for Toronto.

Having experienced all the highs and lows of playoff hockey throughout his career, Pacioretty spoke in his postgame presser about how impressed he was with Toronto’s patient performance in the face of elimination.

“I’ve been in that situation probably more so than a lot of the guys, and it’s really easy to get frustrated or deviate away from the plan, but we were really patient in our game,” Pacioretty said. “Weathered the storm there halfway through the game and then found our legs again. The ebbs and flows of playoff hockey is all about staying patient and we were able to do that.”

Nearing 100 career postseason games, Pacioretty had himself a great night. Besides scoring his second of the series, he had three shots, three hits, and two blocks in only 11:11 minutes played, showcasing himself as one of Toronto’s strongest depth pieces.

His three goals and five assists puts him fourth on the team in points with eight, ahead of both Matthew Knies and John Tavares with two less games played. At 36 years old, he is just two goals away from his career playoff high of five (set five times) and three points away from his record of 11 (which he achieved three times). Not bad for a guy 17 years into his NHL career.

Now, the Leafs face their toughest test yet, as they return home to host the Panthers for a do-or-die matchup to determine who will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Conference Finals. Clearly not fazed by the pressures of the postseason, what do the words ‘Game 7’ mean to Pacioretty?

“It’s fun,” he said. “We’re going to war.”

With the back-and-forth affair we’ve seen so far this series, we can surely expect nothing less when puck drops this Sunday at 7:30pm.