John Tavares stood in the middle of a sombre locker room trying to explain another loss where Toronto’s stars — himself included — were unable to make a difference.
Mitch Marner was up next. Auston Matthews followed right after.
There wasn’t any anger or defiance from a trio that hasn’t been nearly good enough in the Maple Leafs’ second-round playoff series.
Now they have no margin for error. And a steep, near-impossible climb.
Sam Reinhart scored at 3:02 of overtime Sunday as the Florida Panthers defeated visiting Toronto 3-2 to take a commanding 3-0 lead and push the Leafs to the brink of elimination.
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