Jonah Gadjovich extended the lead to 3-0 at 9:39. A.J. Greer got to his own rebound in the left circle and slid a pass across the slot to Gadjovich, who put it between Woll’s pads.
Florida outshot Toronto 18-5 in the second period.
“I don’t know how it really got away from us,” Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said. “I think just not on the same page in different areas of the game.
“I felt like we were ready to play, I felt like we were in a good mindset. I thought the first 10 minutes they came out strong, and the next 10 minutes I thought we controlled play, and then I just thought we had too many passengers throughout the rest of the game.”
Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner agreed with Matthews.
“That’s the right wording,” he said. “… Can’t have passengers in a Game 7. So, it just [stinks]. We all got to hold ourselves to a higher accountability, and we all need to be better.”
Domi cut it to 3-1 at 2:07 of the third period. He took a stretch pass from Bobby McMann at the blue line, skated to the left circle and scored five-hole on Bobrovsky.
Luostarinen responded 47 seconds later to make it 4-1. He redirected Marchand’s shot from the side boards inside the left post past Woll’s blocker.
“Huge goal,” Luostarinen said. “I think we talked about not sitting back, go for the next goal, and we got it. So, that was a good thing.”
Reinhart pushed it to 5-1 at 9:24. He skated into a face-off win by Barkov above the left circle and scored glove side through traffic.
Marchand shot into an empty net at 16:57 for the 6-1 final.
“If the core foundation of your game is the simplest things, it doesn’t matter how your hands feel, it doesn’t matter how your body feels, it doesn’t matter how well you execute. If it’s how comfortable you are in hard situations, then you have a chance,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “… We talk about Game 7 in training camp. We want to play a style of game that gives us a chance to win tonight. It gave us a chance to win tonight.”
NOTES: Marchand is the first player in NHL history to defeat one franchise in at least five winner-takes-all games. … Marchand (37 years, 7 days) is also the fifth-oldest player in NHL history to get at least three points in a Game 7. The others: Nicklas Lidstrom (39 years, 364 days) in the 2010 Conference Quarterfinals, Jean Ratelle (38 years, 219 days) in the 1979 Semifinals, Jeremy Roenick (38 years, 96 days) in the 2008 Conference Quarterfinals, and Chris Kunitz (37 years, 241 days) in the 2017 Conference Finals. … Referee Chris Rooney left the game 13 seconds into the second period after taking a high stick from Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola. The game was delayed for about five minutes to allow for standby referee Garrett Rank to enter the game.
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