Auston Matthews breaks through, Maple Leafs beat Panthers 2-0 to force Game 7

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Auston Matthews hadn't scored against Florida in more than a year. He ended the drought — and might have saved Toronto's season in the process.

Matthews got his first goal of the series to break a scoreless tie in the third period, Joseph Woll stopped 22 shots and the Toronto Maple Leafs kept their season alive by beating the Florida Panthers 2-0 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series Friday night.

“Just a gutsy, gutsy win,” Matthews said.

Game 7 is Sunday night in Toronto. The winner will face Carolina in the East final.

“We played a simple game tonight,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said.

Simple, but effective. Toronto blocked 31 shots, plus killed off all four Florida power plays.

Max Pacioretty added an insurance goal for the Maple Leafs, who improved to 4-2 when facing elimination since the start of the 2023 playoffs.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 15 shots for the Panthers, the defending Stanley Cup champions who oddly are only 8-7 in potential closeout games over the last three postseasons.

“You win or you learn,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “Tonight, we learned.”

Florida coach Paul Maurice is 5-0 in Game 7s, including the final game of last season’s Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers are 3-1 all-time in the ultimate game of a series — 2-0 on the road — while the Maple Leafs have lost each of their last six Game 7s. Of those, four were against Boston and now-Panthers forward Brad Marchand.

“We’re not going to show any video of those Game 7s," Maurice said. "We’ll look at our game tonight and see where we can get better.”

It was the 68th game of this season’s playoffs — and only the second that was 0-0 after 40 minutes. The other was Wednesday night, when Edmonton wound up eliminating Vegas with a 1-0 victory in overtime in Game 5 of that Western Conference semifinal series.

Toronto had five goals in Game 1, four more in Game 2 and had three by the early goings of the second period of Game 3. Add it up, and that was 12 in basically the first seven periods of the series.

From there, Toronto had managed basically nothing — until Matthews broke through.

The Toronto captain was 0 for 31 on shots against Florida this season, including the regular season. Bobrovsky had stopped 85 of the last 86 shot attempts he had seen in the series. And the Maple Leafs hadn't had the lead in basically the equivalent of 3 1/2 games — 216 minutes, 30 seconds, to be precise.

But when a pass got away from Florida's Aaron Ekblad, Matthews had a slight opening — and that was all he needed. A low shot skittered along the ice and beat Bobrovsky for a 1-0 lead with 13:40 left.

“It's a big win, from top to bottom,” Matthews said. “We earned that.”

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Max Pacioretty (67) reacts after scoring a goal against Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the third period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) and center Brad Marchand (63) scuffles with Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) and defenseman Simon Benoit, center, right, after the Maple Leafs won Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Max Pacioretty (67) scores a goal past Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the third period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) loses his helmet during the third period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll, left, is hugged by right wing Mitch Marner (16) after the Maple Leafs defeated the Florida Panthers in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, right, defend the goal against Toronto Maple Leafs right wing William Nylander (88) during the second period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, right, defends the goal against Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Matthew Knies (23) during the second period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) defends the goal during the first period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Florida Panthers, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola, left, and Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Max Pacioretty (67) go for the puck as Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) defends the goal during the second period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Toronto Maple Leafs center Steven Lorentz (18) goes for the puck against Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell (15) during the first period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

PARIS (AP) — The Louvre in Paris reopened fully on Friday after staff voted to suspend a strike that had disrupted access to the world’s most visited museum, management and unions said.

The decision was taken during a general assembly of museum workers, who voted unanimously to pause the strike to allow the museum to welcome visitors, unions said in a statement. The walkout had led to a full closure earlier in the week and a partial reopening on Wednesday.

Unions said the suspension followed five meetings with Culture Ministry officials but said progress remains insufficient, particularly on staffing levels, pay and long-term security plans. They also cited concerns over building deterioration and working conditions.

Union representatives criticized what they described as a lack of engagement from Louvre President Laurence des Cars during the strike, saying she neither met staff nor addressed them during the mobilization.

Workers are due to hold another general assembly on Jan. 5 to decide whether to resume strike action.

People wait for the Louvre museum to open as employees at the Louvre Museum vote to extend a strike that has disrupted operations at the world's most visited museum, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)