To the uninitiated, it’s a battle that can easily be the entry point to the hockey world. On one corner, you have the defending champs, the Florida Panthers, looking hell bent on retaining the Stanley Cup. On the other hand, you have a stacked Toronto Maple Leafs, riding high on hopes of winning their first Cup since 1967. But the Canada squad almost got hit in the face, literally, as they took to the ice at the Amerant Bank Arena in hopes of staying in the title race.

With the Toronto Maple Leafs trailing the best-of-seven series 3-2, today’s match against the Cats was projected to be a crucial one to book tickets to the Eastern Conference finals. “I think this is what you work for all year long. So to get to this point in the season and wanting to continue on and keep pushing toward the ultimate goal,” said the Leafs’ forward John Tavares on what Game 6 means for Craig Berube’s boys. But that pursuit almost came at a hefty cost.

Just like the 2024-25 regular season, the 2025 NHL postseason has also been wrought with injuries. And the list almost added the entire Toronto Maple Leafs’ bench tonight. In a post by B/R Open Ice from May 16, scenes that could have turned out to be disastrous for the Leafs were on display. Captioned, “The Leafs bench almost got DRILLED with a puck out of play,” the post shows a rogue puck diabolically making its way toward the Toronto stars sitting on the team bench at tonight’s game.

The bewilderment of the whole thing caught everyone off guard, and even Berube’s physical response to the moment underscores how little anyone on the Toronto Maple Leafs bench was expecting to greet the stray puck off the ice. Luckily, though, no one got hurt. Considering how both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers have been troubled with constant injuries within their respective ranks, we daresay the narrow escape at tonight’s match was welcome relief.

At the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off, held earlier this year, the Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk picked up a lower-body injury. Since then, the star forward has been out of action and missed out on the entirety of the remainder of the regular season. However, with Florida clinching its spot in the playoffs, Tkachuk returned to the fold and has been crucial in the Cats’ postseason success so far. However, while Matthew got back to his natural habitat, hockey fans also didn’t hold back on throwing shades as to how come the goal-scoring powerhouse didn’t bother to lend his skills to the Panthers during their regular season misery.

In Game 1 between the Panthers and the Maple Leafs, Toronto’s netminder, Anthony Stolarz, took quite the hit from Sam Bennett, which prompted the former to leave the rink and not return for the game. The goalie hasn’t resumed his net minding duties yet, but Coach Berube has revealed that the Toronto Maple Leafs’ #41 has been “progressing“.

However, despite not having their primary goalie on the team, Joseph Woll is proving to be every bit the hero that the team needed.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are not ceding ground without a fight

The Panthers, fresh off a triumphant victory against the in-state arch-rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in Round 1, stormed into the second stage and established an early lead against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Moreover, with Stolarz’s woes casting a dark shadow on Berube’s team, many concluded that the Atlantic Division top seed was nearing the end of its postseason campaign. But thanks to Joseph Woll, the Leafs seem to be hanging on with virility. In the absence of his colleague, the 26-year-old goaltender has posted a total of 133 saves in the past five games.

Tonight, in Game 6, Woll once again showed his mettle by hauling up 22 saves and keeping the Maple Leafs in Stanley Cup contention. “This is a pretty special opportunity for our team. We felt good going in. We know our process and we’re going to carry that through,” said the netminder after today’s game.

Game 7 will return to Scotiabank Arena to determine who will move on to the Conference Finals, where the winner will meet the Edmonton Oilers, who have their reasons to buckle up and hope to win the Stanley Cup this year. But who do you think will come out on top after Sunday’s Conference finals? Tell us in a comment!