NHL insider Justin Bourne needed just four words to sum up the team’s recent troubles, a skid that has them on the brink of elimination. “The absence of greatness,” Bourne wrote.

The Florida Panthers have won three straight games against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs, taking a 3-2 series lead. Despite going down 2-0 to start the series, the Panthers haven't flinched and now sit one win from advancing back to the Eastern Conference Final.

As such, the legacy of this edition of the Maple Leafs, one that has featured a core of forwards Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and defenseman Morgan Rielly since 2018, could be cemented in the next few days.