TORONTO — As margins for error shrivel, bruises mount, and temperatures spike in this doozy of a Toronto Maple Leafs–Florida Panthers series, we think back to the wise words of veteran Scott Laughton.
It’s human nature to want a pound of flesh, an eye for an eye. To sneak in the last chirp or pointed stick or knock on the numbers.
But the sweetest revenge?
“Win. That’s how you get ’em,” Laughton said after villain Sam Bennett sent Toronto’s starting goalie, Anthony Stolarz, to an ambulance and went unpenalized.
“At the end of the day, it’s about winning and punishing ’em that way.”
The proverbial fine line requires more squinting by the shift here, as Cats-Leafs opened with a bang and has swollen into the closest (2-2) most dangerous of the four second-round battles.
And so, as the combatants shake out the cobwebs from another heavy hitter Monday morning, we’ve learned that Max Domi has been fined $5,000 (the maximum charge, under the collective bargaining agreement) for boarding Florida captain Aleksander Barkov as time expired on the Panthers’ 2-0 shutout victory.
And we’ve heard Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube point toward a separate Game 4 incident — Dmitry Kulikov directing a flying elbow at Mitch Marner’s head — when asked about the Domi check during his meeting with reporters in Fort Lauderdale.
“To me, the Kulikov hit on Marner was 10 times worse,” Berube said.
The coach received no explanation for why the Kulikov infraction went un-whistled, and Marner appealed to the officials in real time.
In a series that has already seen one key figure (Stolarz) taken out and another under assessment (Florida wing Evan Rodrigues, who was checked out of Sunday’s event by Oliver Ekman-Larsson), the Atlantic war of attrition is intensifying.
“It’s normal. We expected it. And I think we’re fine with it. We’re handling it. We’re physical,” Berube said. “I thought we were the more physical team last night.”
Yes, the Leafs outhit their rambunctious opponent 47-40 in that game, but that had something to do with the Panthers owning the puck and drawing six minor penalties as the Leafs lost discipline and spent more time in box than in Sergei Bobrovsky’s kitchen.
Florida still leads all playoff teams with a whopping 44.2 hits per 60 minutes. (The Leafs rank 11th with a respectable 33.8.)
Domi set the tone in Game 4 with a careless high-stick two minutes in, the first of a few Leafs infractions that had nothing to do with preventing a scoring chance.
“We don’t need to take those,” Berube said. “Hookings and interference. We’ve got to be better. We’ll be smarter than that. In the end, I really liked our physicality, our compete out there. The guys played hard.”
Simon Benoit and Max Pacioretty registered eight hits apiece. Determined power forward Matthew Knies threw six.
And while Marner and a clearly ailing Auston Matthews struggled to generate in middle ice over the weekend, as a whole these Leafs are more willing to match Florida bully tactics than they were in 2023 — when the series was swift and lopsided.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety, which leveled a pair of suspensions in Florida’s previous series against Tampa, would argue that Domi’s aggression was more worthy of punishment than Kulikov’s because the game was essentially over.
Getting carried away with game-flow aggression is not viewed the same as message-sending malice, in the eyes of George Parros’s office.
“The league looks at those things very closely, especially at that point of the game,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said post-game. “That’s their job.”
“I mean, obviously he’s trying to take a run at Barky at the end there,” Bennett added. “The boys did a good job jumping in there and sticking up for Barky. Yeah, I mean, it’s been a physical series, so I expect more of that.”
To expect anything less would be silly, especially after two full days of recovery and wound-licking before Game 5 Wednesday.
The last player to face league discipline for a sneaky shot on Barkov, Brandon Hagel, was taken out by an Aaron Ekblad forearm shiver to the chops the next game he played. (Ekblad maintains he had no intent to injure Hagel’s head.)
The hatchet, much like the series, is still in full swing.
Which is why, as the plastic rats rained from the rafters and hyped-up fans banged the glass and Barkov gathered himself off the ice, Matthew Tkachuk warned Toronto’s best player, William Nylander, that he was next.
And why the six-foot-three, 227-pound Knies suggested he’d be up for the wrath instead.
“I mean, that’s what he does,” Nylander said of Tkachuk. “He’ll probably do whatever he can to get a player off their game. Next game’s going to be a fun one.”
It’ll be more fun for the side that heeds Laughton’s advice. The one that can reach ruthless without getting reckless.
Just win.
That’s how you really get ’em back.
More from Sportsnet Maple Leafs’ Max Domi fined for hit on Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov‘Outplayed’ Maple Leafs must adjust quick as Panthers impose their will
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Tensions rise in Maple Leafs-Panthers series amid string of controversial hits )
Also on site :
- Get an email about a ‘Lopez Voice Assistant Class Action Settlement'? Here's why
- Did India target Pakistan's nuclear site at Kirana Hills? IAF reacts
- PHOTOS: Travis Kelce Spotted Heading to Taylor Swift's Apartment