That’s why the dominant win over Toronto is so novel and so important for a team trying to figure out how to be a big-game team. Too often, the Florida Panthers look like what the Maple Leafs trotted out in Sunrise: a team bereft of ideas, lackluster and lost. They never have the kind of jump to put a team to the sword immediately, and play with the urgency required to not just make the playoffs but advance in them.
Think back to important games in recent Panthers seasons, or even this one: they look a lot like what the Panthers faced against Toronto.