Toronto Maple Leafs’ season ends after lopsided loss to Florida Panthers

The GIST: There are only four teams still skating for the honor of hoisting Lord Stanley: the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference and, for the second straight season, the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference.

• But those four squads aren’t the only ones flying high: Nicole is crushing the competition in our bracket challenge. She picked 10 of the 12 completed series correctly, but there’s lots of hockey left — and 258 of you picked winners who are still in the hunt. Game on.

🐆 Florida Panthers demolish Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7: In a storyline everyone saw coming, it was in fact not the Leafs’ year. The Buds, who led this second-round series 2-0 just 12 days ago, are making yet another early postseason exit and heading into an offseason of uncertainty following last night’s lopsided 6–1 loss. Death, taxes, and no cup since ’67.

• As for the winners, the defending champ Panthers are heading to their third consecutive Eastern Conference final, where they’ll face the Canes in a rematch of the 2023 conference finals. The puck drops tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET. Do you get déjà vu?

⭐ Dallas Stars eliminate Presidents’ Trophy–winning Winnipeg Jets in Game 6 thriller: It took overtime, but the Stars shined bright on Saturday, using a game-winner from defender Thomas Harley to sink the Jets 2–1. Up next? A conference finals rematch beginning on Wednesday vs. the Connor McDavid–led Oilers, who eliminated the Stars in six games last year.

• As for the Jets’ lone goal-scorer, that was forward Mark Scheifele, who lit the lamp mere hours after the unexpected death of his father. And hockey fans showed their support, donating more than $30K to the team’s charity. It’s bigger than sports.