RICK VAIVE: Two cagey Stanley Cup coaches enliven this series

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We’ve seen three one-goal games in this Toronto-Florida series, which is pretty amazing on its own.

But I’ve also enjoyed watching what’s happening behind both benches.

Paul Maurice of the Panthers started Game 3 with an entirely new fourth line, A.J. Greer, Tomas Nosek and Jonah Gadjovich. Who does that? Two of them hadn’t been in a playoff game halfway through the second round. I guess a guy who has won the Stanley Cup does it.

Craig Berube, who also has a Cup, keeps impressing me, too. We’ve rarely seen a Leaf playoff team that comes out so prepared so early in games and scores in the first minute of play. And they’re never out of a game, even when behind or if the other team scores what looks like a backbreaker goal. They either rally right away or patiently chip away.

You look at the Leafs bench when they’re in crisis and Berube looks so calm. A credit to him because that rubs off on all, though I sometimes laugh when I recall he wasn’t exactly behaving like that as a player in his fighting days. That must have been hard for him to adjust when he began his coaching career.

He has shored up the team’s defence and come up with two really good third and fourth lines. That should give fans lots of confidence as this goes forward.

It would have been great for the Leafs to be up 3-0 a second time in these playoffs, but I go back to an earlier column about the goal of getting a split in Florida this week. The game Friday was an overtime loss, where the Leafs at least came back.

I certainly feel for a guy such as Morgan Rielly, who has been a long-time Leaf waiting for a playoff run like this, yet everyone was talking about those two goals going in off him. I noticed the great defensive plays he made to save goals, but hell, bad bounces are part of hockey – and the playoffs.

Joseph Woll is still playing well enough in net after Anthony Stolarz was hurt, but he’s letting in more goals than usual and that long one that Nosek shot and went in off Gadjovich hurt. Then there’s Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, looking like he’s in trouble at the start of each game, who makes those late clutch saves on William Nylander and Matthew Knies.

We’re also seeing some Leafs shooters such as Auston Matthews fire wide on power play and even strength. It’s unthinkable that Matthews has missed as many as he has, considering the kind of scorer he is.

But Maurice did have last line change against him in Game 3 and there’s the counterpoint that Matthews has done well defensively. He was a little lower on faceoffs, 17-17, but the Leafs still came out ahead on draws overall.

The Maple Leafs just have to steer clear of the crap that Florida keeps trying. Brad Marchand is a leopard (Panther?) who never changes his spots. But he still knows how to score a big goal against Toronto, as we saw Friday. The Leafs just have to keep thinking they can still put Florida on the ropes with another good game, and maybe one more good bounce.

The Toronto Sun welcomes former Maple Leafs captain and three-time 50-goal scorer Rick Vaive to our 2025 playoff coverage. He played 16 NHL and WHA seasons and is the author of ‘Catch 22: My Battles in Hockey and Life.’ He can be heard on Squid and The Ultimate Leafs Fan podcast with Mike Wilson and special guests.