NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 19, 2025
NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 19, 2025
The Panthers eliminate the Maple Leafs and advance to the Eastern Conference Final. Check out the recap and the fallout in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The Florida Panthers advanced to the Eastern Conference Final by thumping the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 in Game 7 of their second-round series.
Brad Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen each had a goal and two assists, Seth Jones and Aleksander Barkov each collected two points, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves for the win. Max Domi scored the lone Leafs goal.

Florida Panthers winger Brad Marchand (NHL Images).
Marchand became the first player in NHL history to defeat the same team in five Game 7 appearances. He also has the most points (10 in 13 games) in Game 7s among active players.
Panthers winger Evan Rodrigues returned to action after missing the last two games with an undisclosed injury. Maple Leafs winger Matthew Knies also played after leaving Game 6 in the first period with an injury.
Referee Chris Rooney left the game early in the second period after being accidentally clipped in the face by the stick of Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola. He received a cut above the eye that required stitches and missed the rest of this contest. Standby official Garrett Rank replace him.
The Panthers will appear in their third straight Eastern Conference Final. They face off against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, May 20, in Raleigh at 8 pm ET.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Panthers reminded everyone in this game why they’re the defending Stanley Cup champions. They weren’t rattled by losing Game 6, came out strong to start this game and were relentless as this contest progressed. They set the tempo early and never let up, squeezing away what little will to win the Leafs had.
Florida coach Paul Maurice tried to downplay his club’s dominance, claiming the puck just went their way. He’s just being kind toward an opponent that has consistently shown since 2018 that they can’t rise to the occasion when it matters most.
Leafs captain Auston Matthews, who appeared to be hampered by an injury in this postseason, felt there were “too many passengers” among his teammates in this game. He believes they came out strong and had a good start, but struggled after falling behind 2-0 and couldn’t get back into the game.
Toronto coach Craig Berube believes the memory of previous failures hurt his club in this series. “For me, it’s all between the ears. It’s a mindset,” he said. Berube wasn’t part of those previous failures, but he has a lot of work ahead to help his mentally fragile team.
As expected, there are plenty of opinions in the Toronto media over what’s next for the Maple Leafs after another disappointing playoff exit. I’ll have the highlights in today’s Rumor Mill.
IN OTHER NEWS…
ROTOWIRE: Winnipeg Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey required further evaluation after suffering a knee injury during Game 6 of his club’s second-round series against the Dallas Stars. Jets coach Scott Arniel said the injury “wasn’t good.” The Jets were eliminated in that game.
SPORTSNET: Hockey fans donated over $46K to the Jets’ charitable foundation to support Mark Scheifele, whose father died suddenly hours before Game 6 against the Stars. Many fans made $55 donations in honor of Scheifele’s jersey number.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The hockey community rallied around Scheifele, with a number of donations from Dallas fans.