
Maple Leafs vs. Panthers live updates: 2025 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs Game 2 latest
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of today's Game 2 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Game 1 on Monday was a real rollercoaster, as the Leafs raced out to a 4-1 lead before the Panthers closed to a one-goal deficit twice in the third period. Toronto held on for a 5-4 win and will look to do it all over again tonight.
Join us as we begin counting down to today's game and don't forget that you can get involved by emailing live@theathletic.com.
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Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
The Panthers were playing in Edmonton, but these superfans gathered to watch them here
Thousands of Florida Panthers fans filled Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Wednesday night for the first game of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers. Even though the game was in Edmonton, Alberta. As the Panthers took a 3-1 lead in the second period, Panthers fans were optimistic they could upset the Oilers on the road. Unfortunately for the fans in Sunrise, the Oilers claw back to tie the score at 3-3 in the third period. In overtime, Leon Draisatil took a pass from Edmonton star Connor McDavid for the game-winning goal. Despite the loss, expect fans to fill Amerant Bank Arena for Game 2 on Friday.


Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Deebo Samuel, Mike Sainristil and a promising sign for the Commanders
After the Washington Commanders finished practice Wednesday, veteran receiver Deebo Samuel and second-year cornerback Mike Sainristil kept working out together in a moment that encapsulated the state of the team. Samuel, who's entering his seventh season, ran about a dozen routes to show the young corner how receivers could use different release techniques at the line of scrimmage to create separation against him. One big focus was refining how to stick to receivers who use an outside release to set up an inside route. Sainristil has seen such moves before, of course, but he wanted to see them again and again so his reactions would become automatic. The moment was a metaphor. The team is Sainristil, a young upstart with lots of promise, and it wants to be Samuel, a proven winner and consistent presence in the biggest playoff games. Their work together distilled the purpose of this space in the NFL calendar between the roster-building flurry of the spring and the training-camp battles of the summer. These offseason workouts, which will end next week with mandatory minicamp, are for experimentation, relationship-building and skill development. 'You would've thought he's been here the past five years of his career the way he's adjusted,' Sainristil said of Samuel. 'He's a guy that loves extra work, loves football, loves to win. So, any way I can pick his brain about what receivers do to help myself, I'm going to do exactly that.' Coach Dan Quinn gushed about 'the environment that the players have created together.' 'We all know, to be at our best, it's gonna take all of us improving,' he said. 'If that's Mike asking Deebo a certain technique or vice versa, that's really where it takes place. And so, we take these times on the field seriously, 'cause it's not just the scheme, it's the individual skill work.' There's a massive difference, Quinn pointed out, between knowing what to do and having the minute details ingrained in muscle memory. 'Be very specific; I think that's where the gold is,' he said. 'That's why I think the teaching this time of year has to shine on the coaches, and we've got some excellent ones because they'll get very specific on the certain techniques. 'Let's try that one again. Let's put the hand into this space.' You're not in a rush to get to the next play [like you are during the season]. … If they have to do it four or five times, that's okay.' Defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. recently did similar work. He had a group of safeties practice press technique against a tight end. That specific skill set might not always be top of mind for coaches. But it could matter a lot in a big moment of a big game if safety Will Harris has to press, say, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert. It might not have been a coincidence that Wizards Coach Brian Keefe attended practice Wednesday. 'We learn a lot from the NBA [in terms of] what that small group would look like, of a specific two or three players getting better on something,' Quinn said. Samuel said he knows there are things he needs to work on himself. His top goal of the offseason was 'being in better shape for sure,' he said, though he declined to detail what he focused on or how it would show up in his game. He pointed out he also needed to learn a new offense. But Samuel showed through his work with Sainristil that he understands his value to the Commanders goes beyond his individual skills. He's been here just for a few weeks but has already embraced the word 'brotherhood,' the team's favorite way to express closeness. 'The guys in the locker room make it easy,' Samuel said. 'When I walked in the locker room, I felt like I've been here before because of how the guys treated me.' Said Whitt: 'When we went on that three-game losing streak [last season], it wasn't anything other than the brotherhood that kept them together.' The brief post-practice scene Wednesday carried all this subtle significance. Mentorship from talented veterans can help younger players — and therefore the team — actualize their potential. And the relationships built in those moments can help players stick together during tough times.


Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Maurice's message to Nosek after game-deciding penalty in Florida's Game 1 Cup Final loss
All Tomas Nosek could do is watch from the penalty box as the Florida Panthers' hopes to win Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final slipped away. He was an observer for the casualty he committed, flipping a puck over the boards with just less than two minutes left in overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a power play. Edmonton struck on that chance, with Leon Draisaitl beating Sergei Bobrovsky to seal the Oilers' 4-3 come-from-behind victory on Wednesday to open the best-of-7 series. It's a tough moment to take for Nosek, Florida's fourth-line center whose play typically slips under the radar. But the Panthers are doing what they can to make sure Nosek doesn't hang his head too much. 'That stuff happens in the game of hockey,' veteran forward Brad Marchand said. 'You know, it's a bad break. He's been a great player for us all year, all playoffs. So, yeah, we have his back on that one.' While the blunder is the moment fresh in fans' minds, a reminder of what Nosek has done for the Panthers this postseason. He was a healthy scratch through the first seven games of the playoffs — all five games in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the first two of the second round against the Toronto Maple Leafs. After Florida dropped the first two games to Toronto, Maurice made a wholesale change to his fourth line, dropping Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm and Jesper Boqvist and inserting Nosek, A.J. Greer and Jonah Gadjovich in their place. The trio was integral in the Panthers winning Game 3 against the Maple Leafs and turning the tide of that series, which Florida ultimately won in seven games. Nosek has been in the lineup every game since, is integral on the penalty kill and on multiple occasions has had to move up in the lineup midgame to fill in for injured teammates. Through 11 playoff games, the Panthers have not allowed a goal at 5-on-5 in the 98:12 Nosek has been on the ice despite opponents having an expected goals for mark of 4.73. 'We're not here without Tomas Nosek,' Maurice said. 'It's a tough break. We make sure he doesn't eat alone tonight, he has lots of people sitting at his table reminding him of how good he has been for us. It's going to be tough. He's going to eat that one for a day. But from his penalty kill to that line changing the flow of that Toronto series, we'll remind him of that a whole bunch of times.''