Here are five takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ loss to the Panthers

• Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart returned to the Panthers’ lineup, then outright dominated against Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies. Barkov, Reinhart and Verhaeghe outshot the Maple Leafs 7-1 with a 93.48 percent share of the expected goals at 5-on-5 via Natural Stat Trick and that may not paint the full portrait. Matthews, nor William Nylander, registered a shot attempt during the first two periods, as the Panthers’ top line thoroughly suffocated Matthews and the Maple Leafs. Matthews registered his lone shot of the game during the third period, Marner didn’t record a shot, and you have to wonder if the Maple Leafs’ top line will be good enough at 5-on-5 during the playoffs. An explosive power play may be covering up several flaws.
• William Nylander is usually the player who drives results when the Maple Leafs are struggling, but he submitted arguably his worst performance of the season. Nylander didn’t register a shot, and didn’t provide the Maple Leafs with his typical playmaking ability. John Tavares scored Toronto’s lone goal of the game and it was an individual effort, which is a neat summary of the Maple Leafs’ play at 5-on-5. Tavares has been Toronto’s best player at 5-on-5 for over a month now, and you expect more from Nylander in a game where the Maple Leafs could’ve further separated from the Panthers. And even Tavares had a clear blemish, as he was beaten cleanly by Anton Lundell off a faceoff in the first period, then Gustav Forsling beat Joseph Woll with a wrist shot from the point. It was a forgettable night for the Maple Leafs, but one that could be instructive going into the postseason.
• Morgan Rielly was beginning to turn the corner but he struggled badly against the Panthers and made a costly mistake that provided the Panthers with the go-ahead goal. Rielly didn’t connect cleanly with the puck behind the net and it ricocheted out to Luostarinen, who made no mistake for the game-winner. Toronto was outshot 17-5 when Rielly was on the ice at 5-on-5, he didn’t suppress any Panthers rushes, and unless you view him as No. 4 with the ability to elevate his game, it’s getting tougher to ignore his louder critics.
• Joseph Woll was the only reason why this remained a competitive game, but Forsling’s game should’ve never beat him. Forsling was excellent throughout the contest, activating off the rush and crashing down from the point to get some good looks, but his shot from the point should’ve been tracked by Woll, with no screen in front of him. Woll received his lone start of the season against the Panthers, as Anthony Stolarz appears to be firmly in the lead for the playoff starter’s role. Woll rebounded from Forsling’s goal and stopped several dangerous chances, including a Brad Marchand short-handed breakaway, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Maple Leafs in the win column.
• It’s not going to get much easier for the Maple Leafs, who square off against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, a team that boasts a plus-74 goal differential with a bonafide Hart Trophy candidate in Nikita Kucherov, two Selke candidates in their own right, with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel being impossible to play against, while Andrei Vasilevskiy is back in all-world form. The notion that the Panthers or Lightning would be preferable opponents to the Ottawa Senators seems flatly ridiculous, and perhaps disrespectful to each team’s pedigree. Tuesday’s game may have provided a stark reminder to never count out the champions.

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