LEAF NOTES: Wearing down Tanev will be focal point of Panthers' game plan
Veteran defenceman shrugs off any discomfort he’s hiding, insisting, 'I feel great, every day’s a great day'
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To no one’s surprise, the Florida Panthers are trying to finish the Leafs in each game by hammering the 8-ball in the side and corner pockets.
In other words: Give Toronto’s workhorse defenceman Chris Tanev a steady stream of hits. In Game 3, it looked like the cumulative contact might have taken a toll when Tanev disappeared to the dressing room for a few shifts. It turned out it was a broken skate blade and he completed the game.
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‘’He’s kind of like the head of the snake on their back end,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk told media in Sunrise, Fla. “You can tell. We’re not inside the walls of their room, but you can tell just by the way he conducts himself and talks to the team.”
Tanev shrugged off any discomfort he’s hiding, insisting Sunday morning, “I feel great, every day’s a great day.”
He said he draws some extra punishment because he often hangs onto the puck to open passing options on the breakout
“He puts his body on the line, something you really love to have on your team,” Leafs winger Mitch Marner said. “I think we’re having so much success because of him.”
FINISHING KICK
Hearing “Leafs” and “killer instinct” in the same sentence is something jaded Toronto followers still can’t quite equate come playoff time.
But when opponents such as Brad Marchand pay them such a compliment, it shows Craig Berube’s team is gaining a new level of respect this spring. Marchand, whose overtime goal Friday prevented the Leafs from taking a 3-0 lead on the Panthers, was keeping the series in perspective heading into Sunday’s Game 4.
“It feels good, but it’s all about doing next game,” he told media in Sunrise. “They’ll come out hard. You saw how they prepared (two quick strikes in Game 3). They have the killer instinct right now.”
When Marchand played in Boston, his team faced elimination five times against Toronto since 2013 and had the intuition to win them all. The Leafs generally shot themselves in the foot.
But on his new team, the defending Stanley Cup champions, Marchand has seen Toronto up the ante, while citing the resilience each team has demonstrated in the series to date. The Leafs had two opening-minute strikes counting Game 3, all matches resulting in one-goal decisions. Toronto didn’t fold after Joseph Woll let in a bad fourth marker in Game 3, neither did Florida fade after Morgan Rielly tied it.
“That’s part of why they’re such a great team and what makes us a good team, too,” Marchand said. “You don’t sit back after you’re scored on, you want a bounce-back shift. It’s a pivotal point in the game when you can respond after a team scores.
“When you have two teams competing at the highest level that are deep, those (goals) happen. You focus on the little details, that’s usually when those (follow-up) shifts are won and lost. You have to be prepared to manage those after they score.”
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BAD BRAD MEMORIES
The Leafs need not explain how Marchand has hurt them over the years in the regular season and playoffs. With just under a point a game in 59 regular season meetings, he entered Game 4 with 33 points in 31 post-season contests and five game-winning goals.
It was those totals versus Toronto in a potential playoff meeting and a wealth of experience in the larger spring pressure cooker that made the Panthers want him as Boston entered a rebuild. Marchand was eager to come south, too.
The team’s new post-win, home-ice tradition is to scoop up the plastic rats that fans toss on the ice and playfully shoot them at Marchand.
“It’s a very easy group to feel at home with,” Marchand said. “You notice the way these guys work. You have a lot of fun, build a lot of unity because of that. They’ve been through a lot of big moments (taking out Boston twice in the playoffs in addition to their Cup) and tough moments. you bond over that. I feel I’ve built some friendships in a short period of time.”
LOOSE LEAFS
New dad Marner didn’t want to miss wife Stephanie’s first Mother’s Day on Sunday while away, but got in touch with her, his mom and his mother-in-law … Tanev revealed Sunday he’s finishing off a business degree. He left Rochester Institute of Technology after a year to turn pro, then after a 10-year hiatus picked up studies during the COVID-19 pandemic break. Through an NHLPA program, he transferred his credits to Southern New Hampshire University and is completing online courses, one at a time … It was seven years ago Sunday that Kyle Dubas was named general manager of the Leafs, though he’s now with Pittsburgh and Team Canada at the world championship … Listing those on Maurice’s teams with playoff overtime goals against the Leafs before Sunday: Niclas Wallin, Jeff O’Neill, Martin Gelinas (Carolina, 2002), Sam Reinhart, Nick Cousins (Florida, 2023) and Marchand (2025).
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