<p>The <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/combinations">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> managed to <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/6-takeaways-toronto-maple-leafs-florida-panthers-game-6-matthews-forces-game-7-most-important-goal-career">squeak out a win</a> in Game 6 of the second round to push their series against the Florida Panthers to Game 7.</p>
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<p>Say the words &#8216;Game seven&#8217; to any Leafs fan and they&#8217;ll shudder. The team has yet to win a Game 7 in the Auston Matthews/Mitch Marner era, with five losses in the win-or-go-home game of a series, six if you want to include Game 5 of the bubble playoffs, and there&#8217;s been a theme to each of them. They&#8217;re usually low-scoring, tight-checking games, at least the ones in recent memory, and there&#8217;s seldom any space for the Leafs to work with when creating offence. For a team that relies on time and space as much as the Leafs have in the past, it makes sense why playoff hockey has been so tough on them in the past.</p>
<p>Head coach Craig Berube recognizes this and says he believes that simplicity will be the team&#8217;s ticket to the Conference Final.</p>
<p>&#8220;Everything is on the line,&#8221; Berube told reporters following Game 6. &#8220;We gotta come out in Game 7 and do the same things we did tonight. It&#8217;s not fancy, it&#8217;s just competing. It&#8217;s being direct. It&#8217;s simple hockey.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s true. The Leafs won that game because they kept the Panthers out of their crease, they got their bodies in the way of shots, and they didn&#8217;t try to do too much on the other side of the puck. Auston Matthews beat Sergei Bobrovsky clean for the first goal of the game, and Max Pacioretty scored the second goal by driving the net. They don&#8217;t need any cute plays to defeat the Panthers.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Craig Berube this morning on whether there’s a shift in momentum in this series:</p>
<p>“You gotta reset. Win or lose.”</p>
<p>“We just need to understand what we need to do in the Game 7 at home.”</p>
<p>&mdash; Anna Dua (@AnnaNoelleDua) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnnaNoelleDua/status/1923756355971690953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Berube says that their mental preparation throughout the day will be just as important as how they prepare for the game itself.</p>
<p>&#8220;The game&#8217;s not played throughout the day,&#8221; Berube said when asked how to keep his team&#8217;s mental game in check on the day of a Game 7. &#8220;You just gotta keep everything in check, not overthink things, let everything just happen through the day, and it&#8217;ll come to you. And when that puck drops, you&#8217;re ready to go. That&#8217;s the best I can tell you.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Leafs may have years of demons following them in regards to Game 7s, but with every opportunity to play one, they have another chance to kill the demon talk forever. In the end, all they have to do is win one hockey game, and keeping that simple mentality will be crucial to shutting down the narrative for once and for all.</p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong></p>
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The <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/combinations">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> managed to <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/6-takeaways-toronto-maple-leafs-florida-panthers-game-6-matthews-forces-game-7-most-important-goal-career">squeak out a win</a> in Game 6 of the second round to push their series against the Florida Panthers to Game 7.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
Say the words 'Game seven' to any Leafs fan and they'll shudder. The team has yet to win a Game 7 in the Auston Matthews/Mitch Marner era, with five losses in the win-or-go-home game of a series, six if you want to include Game 5 of the bubble playoffs, and there's been a theme to each of them. They're usually low-scoring, tight-checking games, at least the ones in recent memory, and there's seldom any space for the Leafs to work with when creating offence. For a team that relies on time and space as much as the Leafs have in the past, it makes sense why playoff hockey has been so tough on them in the past.

Head coach Craig Berube recognizes this and says he believes that simplicity will be the team's ticket to the Conference Final.

"Everything is on the line," Berube told reporters following Game 6. "We gotta come out in Game 7 and do the same things we did tonight. It's not fancy, it's just competing. It's being direct. It's simple hockey."

It's true. The Leafs won that game because they kept the Panthers out of their crease, they got their bodies in the way of shots, and they didn't try to do too much on the other side of the puck. Auston Matthews beat Sergei Bobrovsky clean for the first goal of the game, and Max Pacioretty scored the second goal by driving the net. They don't need any cute plays to defeat the Panthers.

https://twitter.com/AnnaNoelleDua/status/1923756355971690953

Berube says that their mental preparation throughout the day will be just as important as how they prepare for the game itself.

"The game's not played throughout the day," Berube said when asked how to keep his team's mental game in check on the day of a Game 7. "You just gotta keep everything in check, not overthink things, let everything just happen through the day, and it'll come to you. And when that puck drops, you're ready to go. That's the best I can tell you."

The Leafs may have years of demons following them in regards to Game 7s, but with every opportunity to play one, they have another chance to kill the demon talk forever. In the end, all they have to do is win one hockey game, and keeping that simple mentality will be crucial to shutting down the narrative for once and for all.

<strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong>
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Craig Berube says simplicity is key to winning Game 7 vs. Panthers

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