"Classic Leafs choke coming up": NHL fans hunch another playoff fumble for Toronto Maple Leafs after Game 3 loss

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost 5-4 in overtime to the Florida Panthers in Game 3 on Friday. Brad Marchand scored the game-winner at 15:27 of overtime. He took a short pass from Dmitry Kulikov and fired a wrist shot. The puck hit Morgan Rielly and deflected into the net.

Florida still trails 2-1 in the series. But the win gave their fans new hope. The Maple Leafs had two-goal leads twice in the game but couldn’t hold them. John Tavares scored two goals. Matthew Knies also scored and added an assist. Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander each scored two assists.

After the game, the Maple Leafs posted the final score on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption:

"Game four Sunday"

Fans quickly responded with frustration and jokes.

"CLASSIC LEAFS CHOKE COMING UP," a fan said.

"The Leafs will be the toughest team Florida beats on its way to another championship. Book it," another fan commented.

"BRAD MARCHAND OWNS YOUR MISERABLE FRANCHISE 😹😹😹😹 DOESNT MATTER WHAT TEAM HES ON," one user said.

Take a look at some more reactions from fans on X.

"Boys were gassed," one fan said.

"Cry leafs fans 😂 Brad owns your team," one fan commented.

"Auston matthews ghosts in big games Like Usual😭get rid of that bum asap," a fan tweeted.

Maple Leafs urged to respond better after OT loss to Panthers in Game 3

After the game, coach Craig Berube said the team started well but lost momentum in the second period. He said they returned to their game in the third by pressuring and getting pucks deep. Berube wants the team to keep that approach moving forward.

“We had a good first, I thought, and came out in the second and we just didn’t ... [play] direct with what we needed to do,” Berube said (via NHL.com). “We got back to playing our game in the third, were pressuring them and getting pucks in behind them, going to work."

Maple Leafs forward and alternate captain John Tavares said Florida is a good team and pushed hard. He admitted the Leafs didn’t handle the pressure as well as they had before.

“They are a good team and they pushed hard," Tavares said. “We didn’t execute as well or play through the pressure as we have in the past. ... We battled really hard in the third, got some pressure back and stayed on it. We earned the opportunity to win it in OT, just didn’t get the break today."

Both Berube and Tavares said the Maple Leafs must respond better in the next game.