It all comes down to this for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers. Sunday’s game marks the conclusion of a wild roller coaster of a series that included two wins to start for Toronto, then three straight for Florida, followed by a hard-fought win in Game 6 by Toronto that provided one more matchup.

Who moves on to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals? Who begins their offseason vacation a bit earlier than they’d hoped?

Read on for a game preview with statistical insights from ESPN Research, a roundtable debate with key players in Game 7 and final score picks, a recap of what went down in Saturday’s game and the three stars of Saturday from Arda Öcal.

Matchup notes

Florida Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 7 | 7:30 p.m. ET | TNT

The Maple Leafs have lost six straight Game 7s and are 12-15 all-time in Game 7s. The Panthers are 3-1 all-time in Game 7s, including a win in last year’s Stanley Cup Final.

Auston Matthews‘ first goal in 11 career postseason games against the Panthers came at an important time, technically serving as the game-winner of Game 6. He became the second Maple Leafs captain in history to score the winning goal in a contest when facing elimination, joining Darryl Sittler in 1976.

Teammate Mitch Marner assisted on Matthews’ goal and is the second player in Toronto franchise history with 50 playoff assists — Doug Gilmour has 60.

Joseph Woll had his first career playoff shutout, becoming the first Leafs goaltender to register a shutout when facing elimination since Curtis Joseph in the 2002 Eastern Conference finals.

Florida’s Brad Marchand will appear in his 13th career Game 7, which will be most among active players. He’s the fifth all-time to hit that benchmark, joining Scott Stevens (13), Patrick Roy (13) and his former Bruins teammates Patrice Bergeron (14) and Zdeno Chara (14).

Sergei Bobrovsky has a 2-0 career record in Game 7s, including last year’s Cup finals win over Edmonton. He is looking to join a group of eight goaltenders who have won their first three Game 7s.

Who is the one key player you’ll be watching?

Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter: Joseph Woll. There are a few reasons here. It starts with the obvious: whether he can replicate what he did in Game 6, or at least carry several elements of that performance over into Game 7. Another reason stems from the conversation around tandem goaltenders, and the need for depth at that position. We’re so used to seeing teams have one primary option in net who’s expected to play every second. But this postseason has shown the value of having at least two — if not three — goalies who can be trusted. Woll getting a Game 7 victory would further emphasize that reality.

Victoria Matiash, NHL analyst: William Nylander. The most productive player for the Leafs this playoff run, Nylander has been scoresheet-silent this past week. After posting six goals and nine assists through nine games against Ottawa and Florida, Toronto’s most dynamic performer all regular season long has posted an egg in three straight.

If one of the coolest cucumbers in the game manages to break loose and rifle one past Bobrovsky, he’ll give his side an excellent chance to clear a hurdle not enjoyed by Leafs fans for many, many years.

Arda Öcal, NHL broadcaster: Auston Matthews. The Leafs captain scored his first career playoff goal against the Panthers in Game 6, which was also his first career goal beyond the first round of the playoffs. We hear it all the time: The superstars need to show up and show out when it matters the most. He got it done in Game 6. Can he do the same on Sunday when it’s winner takes all?

Kristen Shilton, NHL reporter: Mitch Marner. Now that Matthews got the monkey off his back with that critical goal in Game 6, it’s time for Marner to have his own series-defining moment in Game 7. Marner had four points in the Leafs’ first three games against Florida, but he has registered just one assist since then. And after that ill-fated spin-o-rama turnover move Marner pulled in the Game 5 debacle, this is his opportunity for a little redemption on home ice, too.

Marner is, like Matthews, among the most criticized players in the league for poor postseason performances when it matters most. Well, the stakes have never been higher. It’s now or never for Marner to put his mark on this one.

Greg Wyshynski, NHL reporter: Brad Marchand. Even in a moment of pure elation — a Game 6 victory on the road, with your two most maligned players combining for the winning goal — the prevailing thought among Maple Leafs fans is whether this is just another mechanism to eventually deliver maximum anguish. Marchand powering the Panthers to a Game 7 victory on Toronto’s home ice would be maximum anguish.

It has to be Marchand who twists the dagger. He has a 4-0 record against Toronto in Game 7s, all with the Boston Bruins, and can become the first player in NHL history to defeat the same opponent in at least five winner-take-all games. Factor in that the Leafs wanted to trade for Marchand before he chose Florida as his deadline destination, and now we’re talking an ironic level of pain. Brad Marchand being the reason that the Panthers win this Game 7 would cement his status as the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ greatest tormentor — perhaps second only to themselves.

The final score will be _____.

Clark: 4-3 Panthers in OT. Think about how this current iteration of the Panthers really started making its mark. It was that Game 7 win against the Boston Bruins back in 2023 that set the stage for the Panthers to become one of the NHL’s preeminent powers.

They have shown a comfort level with playing in Game 7s, which was the case last season when they won the first Stanley Cup in team history. Tapping into that experience in Game 7 could be the difference between a third consecutive Eastern Conference finals appearance or starting their offseason earlier than they would like.

Matiash: 4-2 Maple Leafs. Never mind the Leafs’ depressing losing record in Game 7s with the Core Four in action. Disregard Paul Maurice’s impeccable history in carbon-copy essential winner-take-all contests. Losers are only losers until they win.

If Toronto adheres to Berube’s system, utilizes its advantage in speed, counters Florida’s physicality reasonably enough, and doesn’t commit ridiculous infractions — silly penalties, dumb giveaways — they can finally flip the script on what’s been a tired and gloomy narrative in a town that’s craved better for much too long. If this central crew of bona fide stars truly wants to keep the elite band together for years ahead, this victory is essential. Marner scores the empty-netter to seal it.

Öcal: 3-1 Leafs. Here’s how I see it going: Toronto gets the first goal in the first period from Marner, then weathers the Cats’ onslaught in the second. Marchand scores early for Florida in the third, followed by a John Tavares quick response, then Auston Matthews pots home the empty-netter. The Leafs head to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2002. And then 300,000 people celebrate this second-round victory at Nathan Phillips Square.

Shilton: 3-2 Leafs in OT. If not now … when? Toronto knows exactly what to do in order to shut Florida down. It won’t be easy. Paul Maurice is 5-0 in Game 7s. The Panthers know how to win big games. But the blueprint to beating them is also there for the Leafs to execute.

Joseph Woll was at his best in Game 6. Toronto’s top line got rolling. The Leafs look stout defensively, and there’s a collective effort there that’s been lacking before. This chance to reach a conference finals for the first time since the early 2000s is too good to let slip away and for once, Toronto won’t let it. And that last appearance in 2002 came off a Game 7 win over Ottawa — with a chance to play Carolina. Coincidence? Maybe not!

Wyshynski: 2-1 Panthers. Auston Matthews has been eliminated from the playoffs eight times. Three of the past four eliminations were by one goal, with two of the games going to overtime. This is to say that even when they fall short, these Leafs usually don’t go out with an effort like their Game 5 embarrassment at home.

But they will go out. Florida just has too many guys that have done this before. Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart have been huge in Game 7s. Sergei Bobrovsky is 2-0 in them. Another team might be rattled by squandering a chance to close out their opponents. Florida squandered it three times in the Stanley Cup Final last season against Connor McDavid — and still pulled it together to win the Cup in Game 7. The Panthers win, the Leafs finish the series valiantly and another offseason of critical decisions begins in Toronto.

Öcal’s three stars from Saturday

Upon hearing of the unexpected death of Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele‘s father, the Stars’ fan base mobilized online and began a campaign to donate $55 (Scheifele’s jersey number) to charities that the veteran supports. Add that to the list of reasons why hockey fans are the best.

The overtime hero who sends Dallas to the Western Conference finals for the third straight year — a rematch from 2024 against the Edmonton Oilers. Harley became the fourth defenseman in franchise history to score an OT winner in the playoffs, joining John Klingberg (2019), Mattias Norstrom (2008) and Paul Cavallini (1994).

Scheifele had an incredible game, including the opening goal, hours after finding out his father had passed away. It was Scheifele’s first road playoff goal in the past 13 games.

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Mark Scheifele strikes first for Winnipeg

Mark Scheifele scores the opening goal of the game for Winnipeg just a day after his father’s death.

Saturday’s recap

Dallas Stars 2, Winnipeg Jets 1 (OT)
DAL wins 4-2, plays EDM in conference finals

Multiple games of this series ended with multi-goal victories. That was not the case on Saturday, as these two heavyweights played a tight contest that would eventually go to OT. Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele scored the game’s opening goal 5:28 into the second period (the day after his father unexpectedly died), followed by the equalizer by Dallas’ Sam Steel. That’s where the score would remain until the end of regulation. It did not take long in OT for Thomas Harley to send the fans in Dallas into a frenzy and his team into the Western Conference finals for a rematch from last year with the Edmonton Oilers. Full recap.

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Jake Oettinger makes remarkable save to keep score level

Jake Oettinger does his best attempt at acrobatics in the crease, making a lights-out save for the Stars in the third period.

NEW YORK — The first sustained jeers of the 2025 Subway Series, a raucous and crude chorus of pent-up resentment, were unleashed 20 minutes before first pitch of Game 1 on Friday, when Juan Soto emerged to stretch in center field in his New York Mets grays.

“F— Juan Soto!” reverberated from the bleachers beyond the right-field wall amid boos all around Yankee Stadium. Soto, ever the showman, did not directly acknowledge the greeting. But he subtly tugged at the bill of his cap toward the bleachers, surely in the direction of at least some people who had showered him with love last summer into autumn as the New York Yankees rode Soto and Aaron Judge‘s historic tandem production to the franchise’s first World Series appearance in 15 years before Soto ditched them during the winter.

This was a battle between first-place teams 10 miles apart, a fact that alone would have provided more juice than usual to the weekend series. The addition of Soto’s perceived betrayal, one of the sport’s biggest storylines, made it perhaps the most anticipated meeting between the clubs since the 2000 World Series.

Marc Chalpin took his usual bleacher seat in Section 203 behind right field, surrounded by his Bleacher Creature brethren, at approximately 6:30 p.m., anticipating the inevitable. If he had it his way, fans wouldn’t have greeted Soto in his return to Yankee Stadium with vulgarity. “F— Juan Soto!” was, to Chalpin, both over-the-top in its obscenity and underwhelming in its creativity.

Chalpin, tasked to initiate the Bleacher Creatures’ famous Roll Call since 2016, didn’t believe Soto warranted the vitriol, because he was a Yankee for only one season and, above all, didn’t win a championship. But he knew the three-word melody was coming for the man who spurned the home team for the — gulp — Mets.

“You’ll hear it from non-regulars,” Chalpin said, “but it won’t be us.”

Daniel Cagan was one of the non-regulars in attendance Friday. A die-hard Yankees fan from Los Angeles, Cagan happened to be in town for work, bought a ticket and attended the sold-out group therapy session by himself. Wearing a No. 68 Dellin Betances jersey, with a beer in hand before getting to his seat in Section 204, he predicted what he expected to ensue.

“Mayhem.”

With Soto’s decision to spurn the Yankees for the Mets over the offseason, the “Re-sign Soto!” pleas he heard from the bleachers in 2024 morphed into the crude taunt repeated dozens of times over the next three-plus hours. They were interspersed with rounds of boos and occasional fresh, less crass chants. It was a reaction stemming from Yankees fans’ introduction into how other fan bases have often felt about their ballclub.

For years, the big, bad, richer-than-everybody-else Yankees snatched stars, via free agency or trade, from other teams. This time — and probably for not the last time — the roles flipped: Mets billionaire owner Steve Cohen, refusing to be outbid, lured Soto from the Bronx to Queens after the Yankees offered a 16-year, $760 million contract. Soto opted for the Mets’ 15-year, $765 million deal, which includes an option to increase the total value to $805 million, free use of a luxury suite at Citi Field, up to four tickets behind home plate for all home games, and personal security for him and his family for both home and away games.

“Seeing him go to the Mets, it’s just, like, it rubs you the wrong way,” said James Roina, a 22-year-old Yankees fan who was sitting in Section 204.

Roina wore a white pinstriped Soto No. 22 Yankees jersey that he customized to read “SELLOUT” on the back using packing tape and a marker. A few brave Mets fans were sprinkled throughout Sections 203 and 204 behind Soto, proudly wearing his No. 22 in blue and orange. Fans of both teams wore Dominican-flavored caps and jerseys.

“F— Juan Soto” chants and middle fingers flew every few minutes as fans from the two sides sporadically exchanged pleasantries over the nine innings. It was so boisterous during the first inning that the Bleacher Creatures were drowned out for some of the Roll Call. Most interactions were light-hearted. On occasion, a security guard intervened to defuse a situation. Nothing escalated to a physical altercation.

“[Soto] was only here for one year,” Chalpin said. “It was a very, very good year, but it was just one year. So he’s not an all-time Yankee great or anything like that. This isn’t Paul O’Neill. He never won here. He had a great year. But there is a distinction between a guy who won here and a guy who didn’t.”

In the days leading up to the game, Chalpin knew how he wanted the Bleacher Creatures to welcome Soto.

“You know, he turned his back on us,” Chalpin said. “My attitude is we should turn our backs on him. I don’t wish him harm, but I don’t wish him success either.”

So Chalpin and dozens of Bleacher Creatures in Section 203 turned their backs on Soto when he ran out to take his spot in right field for the first time. After the game, Soto said he didn’t notice the gesture.

Joe Lopez, a Bronx native and Bleacher Creature regular since 1987, joined in on the silent treatment.

“I knew he wasn’t coming back,” Lopez said. “Because the idea is to make as much money as you can. So how are you gonna dog Soto for going after the money? I mean, come on. He got everything he wants. He got the money. He got the suite. So you’re going to hate him for that? He’s not Aaron Judge. Aaron Judge could’ve gone home to San Francisco for more money. But he wanted to be here.”

Other chants occasionally surfaced. “MVP” chants for Judge were louder than usual, an effort made to remind Soto he wasn’t even the best player on the Yankees anyway.

Another favorite was “We got Grisham!” in reference to Trent Grisham, the other player the Yankees received with Soto from the San Diego Padres and who was buried on the Yankees’ bench last season but is now enjoying a breakout campaign. Fittingly, the praise came almost a year after they chanted “We want Soto!” when Grisham replaced an injured Soto in a weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yankees fans yelled, “You can’t field!” at Soto in the first inning. They called him, in rhythmic unison, an “a–hole”. With his monster contract in mind, they chanted, “Soto, greedy!” Later on, they unearthed the classic “Overrated” chorus.

All along, Soto did his best to ignore them. He jokingly acknowledged the sentiment at-large before his first plate appearance when, smiling, he took off his batting helmet, tipped it to the crowd, tapped his chest twice and mouthed, “Thank you.”

The bleachers, however, did not get that level of acknowledgement — until the eighth inning, when a “you miss Judge!” taunt erupted and Soto appeared to outline a heart toward the bleachers. Moments later, Soto caught the inning’s final out and threw the ball into the bleachers behind him without looking. A fan, after some peer pressure, threw the ball back, igniting another roar from the crowd.

“We finally got to him,” said Milton Ousland, another Bleacher Creature staple. “He knew the F-him chants were coming. We had to do something different.”

Ousland has been sitting in the bleachers since the 1980s, back when home games were at the old Yankee Stadium and the Mets were, in a blip in the franchise’s 63-year history, the best team in town. He became the section’s cowbell man in 1996, in time for the first of four Yankees championships in five seasons. Back then, Ousland insisted, Friday’s reaction to Soto would’ve been G-rated.

“This is nothing,” Ousland said. “We used to be so bad that [opposing right fielder Jose] Canseco used to DH. We used to look up bad words in Japanese. We used to chant curse words at Ichiro [Suzuki] the whole game in Japanese. We would look it up and hand out a paper to everybody, as they walked in, that had all the curse words in Japanese.

“We’ve really been on top of players before. This is nothing new. The only thing that’s new is that a guy chose the Mets over us.”

There was a point late in Friday’s game, with the Yankees holding a five-run lead, when the two fan bases momentarily coalesced to become one. It happened when the score of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, played at Madison Square Garden, was shown on the video board. The hometown New York Knicks were thrashing the Boston Celtics 46-27 en route to an easy series-clinching win.

Ousland, who wore a Knicks cap, banged his cowbell in celebration as the bleachers went wild around him. Pinstriped people high-fived the brave blue-and-orange souls. A light “Jalen Brunson!” chant broke out. But the truce was fleeting. It was quickly back to business until Soto, who finished 0-for-2 with three walks in a 6-2 Yankees win, made the game’s final out.

BOSTON — Rafael Devers has settled into his role as the designated hitter for the Boston Red Sox and said recently that he wasn’t changing his mind about moving to first base.

If he keeps going like this, why bother trying.

Devers hit his first career walk-off Saturday night, leading off the bottom of the ninth inning with a solo shot against Pierce Johnson to send the Red Sox to a 7-6 comeback win over the Atlanta Braves that snapped their four-game losing streak.

“Obviously, very excited because of the type of game,” Devers said through a team interpreter. “For us to be able to come back and win this type of game means a lot. And also to get it going with the team to get everybody excited.”

After Devers shared his feelings about not wanting to play first, Red Sox owner John Henry flew to share his opinions with the disgruntled slugger.

Henry, team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and manager Alex Cora on May 9.

But after a historically slow start to the season, Devers has been hot at the plate. He has reached base in 19 of his past 20 games, hitting .397 with six homers and 20 RBIs in that stretch.

“I feel very comfortable right now,” Devers said. “I have my routine and go out there every day and do my routine to get ready and I feel very comfortable as a DH.”

Said Cora: “He’s been swinging the bat well, taking his walks. That first weekend, whoever has an explanation of what happened there, give me a call and explain it because it was hard to see it, and then he just changed. He’s been really good.”

The Red Sox had tried to talk Devers into moving to first after regular first baseman Triston Casas was lost for the season following surgery on his left knee.

“He has his routine down,” Cora said. “He cares about us, he cares about the team and he wants to win. Right now, like I said before, he’s our DH and he’s done an outstanding job. … He’s probably the best DH in the American League right now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.