Maple Leafs go down quietly in Game 7 as Panthers advance to Eastern Conference final

Auston Matthews saw too many passengers. Mitch Marner took his helmet off and screamed at his teammates to wake up.

Craig Berube couldn't explain a second consecutive dismal home-ice performance, his players unable to meet the challenge of yet another big moment.

The Maple Leafs — in what's become the annual tradition in hockey's biggest market, along with jerseys thrown onto the Scotiabank Arena ice by a scarred fan base — are once again left to pick up the pieces.

An uncertain off-season now lies ahead following the Original Six franchise's latest playoff flop.

Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand each had a goal and two assists Sunday as the Florida Panthers throttled Toronto 6-1 in a dominant effort to take Game 7 and win the teams' second-round series.

"Just weren't on the same page," a sombre Matthews, the Leafs first-year captain, said in front of a wall of cameras. "It's very, very frustrating."

"Sadness, obviously, depression," Marner, a star winger who might have played his final game in blue and white, added when asked what he was feeling. "I don't know, all of it."

Seth Jones, with a goal and an assist, Anton Lundell, Jonah Gadjovich and Sam Reinhart also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champions. Aleksander Barkov added two assists.

"We were very quick at closing when pucks were coming around the wall," said Marchand, a Leaf killer in his Boston Bruins days who played in a Game 7 for the 13th time in his career and is 5-0 against Toronto.

"They weren't able to get a whole lot going."

Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves for Florida, which made a third straight Eastern Conference final and will face the Carolina Hurricanes for a spot in another title series. Game 1 goes Tuesday in Raleigh, N.C.

"The games were so tight," said Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, who led his team past Toronto in five games in 2023 and is now 6-0 in Game 7s. "This is a much better team than we played two years ago."

Max Domi replied for Toronto. Joseph Woll stopped 28 shots.

The Leafs led the Atlantic Division matchup 2-0 on the back of consecutive home victories before the Panthers won three straight to go up 3-2, including a 6-1 whitewash in Game 5 that looked a lot like Sunday.