Leafs tries to block out noise on elimination: ‘We don’t hear you guys’

SUNRISE, Fla. — Mitch Marner has repeatedly pointed out how little attention he pays to anything that doesn’t emanate from inside the Maple Leafs’ orbit.

The winger insists that he stays away from social networks and does not read or watch what is written or said.

With the pressure mounting, the fan base in a hockey-mad city panicking and his team facing 3-0 elimination in its second-round playoff series with the Florida Panthers, that tune hasn’t changed.

“We don’t care what you (reporters) say,” the Toronto star said under fire and underperformance Tuesday after the team’s practice at FLA Live Arena. “We don’t hear them outside of this locker room.

“We’re just focused on ourselves and this group here.”

That group has a nearly impossible challenge ahead of them.

After overcoming a painful postseason past that included a series of crushing disappointments, including six straight series losses, the Leafs took a collective gorilla off their backs when they knocked out the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round to advance for the first time since 2004. .

A lot has happened, and not happened, in the 10 days since.

The Panthers hold a stunning and commanding 3-0 lead against Toronto in a best-of-seven team matchup, and they can send the Leafs packing with a Game 4 win on Wednesday.

Florida has done a lot of good things and won some close contests, but Toronto hasn’t done itself any favors.

There have been crucial mistakes at key moments, mistakes the Leafs just didn’t make against Tampa.

The biggest problem, however, is how the offense has dried up.

Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares and William Nylander, the team’s so-called “Top Four” of well-paid talent, failed to find the mark against the Panthers after carrying a heavy charge in the final round.

Matthews hasn’t scored in this series, while Marner and Nylander haven’t found the back of the net in seven straight games. Tavares has one goal, his Game 6 overtime clincher against the Lightning, in the same span.

“We are the leaders,” Marner said. “We want to be the ones that take a step forward.

“We all know we have to be much better.”

Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said the focus on the top end of his lineup’s lack of production against Florida is one thing, but there’s a lot more to Toronto’s situation.

“Those guys carried us through the Tampa series offensively and they came at key moments, they scored great goals for us (in) great moments,” he said. “We are here playing in large part thanks to how they helped us.

“They will come back to help us, but our team needs to deal with this situation right now.”

Florida won Game 1 by a 4-2 margin before picking up back-to-back 3-2 victories, including Sunday’s overtime decision, to put a stranglehold on an Original Six franchise that will turn to rookie goaltender Joseph Woll with his season on the line after Ilya Samsonov. he suffered an upper body injury in Game 3.

“The playoffs are tough,” Nylander said. “It’s the little plays that can make a big difference in the series…that’s been the case a little bit in this series.

“As I think it was also the last series.”

Things need to change for the Leafs, and fast, for a team that saw at least one of Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander score in 75 of Toronto’s 82 regular-season games.

“We want to step up,” Matthews said. “Lead by example.”

Going back to the end of the Tampa matchup, Toronto has scored just 10 times in the last five games, a dry stretch not seen since 2016-17 when Mike Babcock was in his second year behind the bench, and Matthews, Marner and Nylander were newbies

Tavares played another season with the New York Islanders before signing in July 2018 with the Leafs, who would host a potential Game 5 on Friday.

“Just go out there and play hockey,” Matthews said when asked how he handles pressure. “That’s what we’ve been doing our whole lives. I can’t really focus too much on the outside noise: what you guys are saying, what everyone is saying. Really do not care.

“It’s going to be fun,” Nylander added of Wednesday’s must-win. “That’s when you have to play your best.”

Meanwhile, the Panthers are playing for free as they look to extend a franchise-record playoff winning streak to seven games after coming back from 3-1 in the first round to upset the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins.

“There’s no pressure on us,” Florida winger Matthew Tkachuk said. “Why play if you can’t enjoy it?”

There isn’t much enjoyment in the hallway as Toronto desperately tries to make the first move to become the fifth team in NHL history to come back from a 3-0 deficit.

“It starts with a game,” Matthews said. “It starts with our attitude, our way of thinking. It’s not about trying to go and win the series right now.”

Keefe said that with only one date currently remaining on Toronto’s schedule, and the team’s hopes on life support, the message for the entire group is clear.

Not just the big guns that currently shoot blanks.

“Everyone has to do their part and give us everything,” he said. “Win a game, bring this back to Toronto and give us more time for all this other stuff to come together.

“You have to win a game.”

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