Paul Maurice reveals what he told his Panthers when trailing 0-2 after the 1st period

The Toronto Maple Leafs were looking to even the second round series against the Florida national on Thursday night, but the plan was overruled by the disastrous 66 opening seconds of the second period.

Toronto entered the second frame in Game 2 with a 2-1 lead, but turnovers led to quick-strike goals by Aleksander Barkov 19 seconds into the period and then Gustav Forsling just 47 seconds later.

After his team’s 3-2 win to take over the series 2-0, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice was asked about what he told his players in the dressing room during the first intermission.

The answer, quite short and blunt, told everything:

“Nothing funny.”

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe also offered a short answer on what he thought of the start of the second period by his own players.

“Disappointing, baffling,” he said of the sequence. “We didn’t make those mistakes one time in the last series.”

Maybe Keefe needs to stop thinking about the Leafs’ long-awaited first round triumph and realize that the Panthers aren’t playing like an eighth-seed team. They beat the President Trophy-winning Boston Bruins and have since been on a five-game winning streak.

And clearly, Maurice won’t tell a whole lot on what to expect next from the Panthers. Keefe needs to readjust and cannot afford to lose the next contest of the matchup, even if it’s taking place in Florida on Sunday.

We’ve all got to self-reflect here,” forward Ryan O’Reilly said. “The focus is the next game. “We win the next game [and] we take it from there.”

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