SUNRISE, FL - The Florida Panthers finished off the Toronto Maple Leafs last night by a score of 2-1, taking game 7 and the series.

First star of the game Jocelyn Thibault had this to say: "We're happy to win the series, but we don't feel like we played our best, we should have done better, seeing as how we started the series up two games to none."

Thibault made 25 saves in the Game 7 victory, including one spectacular save in the closing seconds of the game, when Toronto had a man-advantage because they had pulled their goalie.

The first two periods of Game 7 were scoreless, but with no lack of chances. Both Thibault and Toronto's goaltender, John Nabokov, were outstanding, turning aside everything that came their way.

Florida took a 1-0 lead 4:30 into the 3rd period, when Sami Salo scored. The goal came off a beautiful pass from Kyle Calder, who stole the puck in the neutral zone from Toronto player Patrick Stefan. Calder drove the puck into the zone, drawing both defenseman to him, then dropped the puck without looking to Salo, who buried it.

"Kyle really made that goal happen," said Salo, "I think he should get a lot of credit, I mean, he would have killed me if I would have missed that goal! Like he said to me on the bench, he gave it to me on a silver platter."

Florida retained the lead until, with just under a minute left in the game, Wes Walz tied the score, stunning the home crowd.

Fortunately for the Panthers' fans, the team didn't let up.

"We've been through overtime in this series, and we didn't want to go back," said center Olli Jokinen, "Coach Sather told us in the timeout to play for the win now, not for OT."

Only 30 seconds later, the team's leading playoff scorer, Ladislav Nagy, came through once again.

Jokinen took a pass from Brad Lukowich in the slot, faked a shot, which froze Nabokov, then passed it to Nagy, who had sneaked in behind the defense, and was standing right next to the crease. Nagy then put it around the goaltender, causing the crowd here in Florida to go wild.

"We knew we'd won the game, there wouldn't be any overtime, we were going to move on, our first step closer to the Cup." said Nagy about the goal.

Florida will meet division rival, and one of the toughest teams in the Eastern Conference, New Jersey in the second round of the playoffs. Game 1 is Tuesday night, back here in Florida, where the Panthers will look to continue their excellent play at home, where they are 3-1 so far in the playoffs.