Max Pacioretty Sends Strong Message to Florida After Securing Game 6 Victory

Leave it to the #67 to have its place in Maple Leafs history. This time however, it wasn't the haunting of 1967's last Cup win looming over their head, but instead a player who dons the number when he laces up the skates.

For Max Pacioretty, this postseason has been quite the turnaround from his injury-filled season. Only skating in 35 games, he's come out with a bang, scoring some pretty critical goals and being the veteran presence Toronto needed.

His latest heroics involved potting a huge insurance goal past Sergei Bobrovsky, celebrating emphatically after giving the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead.

But it was his post-game comments that caused a bit of a stir, and he revealed that he and his teammates are soldiering on; and Game 7 is going to be something for the ages.

In Pacioretty's words:

If they weren't already smack dab in a war, they certainly are now with another Game 7 to give fans the utmost anxiety as they wait and see if the Maple Leafs can pull off the impossible.

it was a game that saw the emergence of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and Bobby McMann.

While the first two had a very good postseason up until the Florida series, they were under immense pressure to contribute and finally came through.

McMann has his first point since Game 1 against Ottawa, and he finally felt like he was skating with confidence.

It wasn't a goal like some had hoped, but his picture perfect feed to Pacioretty was a beauty in and of itself.

Things weren't all sunshine and rainbows though, as Matthew Knies suffered an apparent injury and his status for Game 7 is still up in the air and is pending an evaluation.

Knies was seen grimacing on the bench, though the current identity of the injury is unknown at this time.

If Knies does end up missing, the Leafs could end up putting in David Kampf or Nick Robertson while keeping McMann on the top line, as they did in Game 6.

Pacioretty has eight points in nine games (3G, 5A) while also adding a team high 55 hits in that span.

For him and the rest of the Maple Leafs, it's time to put the final stamp on the war that is the second round.

Sunday is going to be a game to remember, either for the best or the worst reasons.