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SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers are back on even footing and it's now a best-of-three Stanley Cup playoff series.
Behind a 22-save shutout from Sergei Bobrovsky and their best defensive showing of the series, the Panthers evened things with the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 2-0 victory on May 11.
Joseph Woll kept the Maple Leafs in it, making 35 saves and keeping the door shut until Sam Bennett scored the insurance marker with 7:50 to go in the third period to help the Panthers finish their climb back from a 0-2 series deficit.
The Panthers had three chances to score on the power play early on but could not break though. Florida rattled off five shots in those first three power-play opportunities to no avail. But they got a break when ex-Panther Oliver Ekman-Larsson took a delay of game penalty with just two seconds remaining in their third power play of the first period.
More: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman happy for Florida Panthers franchise, fans and owner Vinnie Viola
Carter Verhaeghe finally broke the seal with 5:15 to go in the first period. He tapped home a one-timer nine seconds into Florida’s fourth power play of the game to give the Panthers their first 1-0 lead of the series.
With Woll keeping the Maple Leafs within arm’s length, the Panthers had to face Toronto’s vaunted five-forward power play unit three times in the second period — and they held them off. That included a 1:45 sequence where Toronto had Florida barricaded in its own zone but the Panthers allowed one shot on goal.
The Panthers saw a five-minute power play reduced to a two-minute minor early in the third period after Evan Rodrigues took a high hit from Ekman-Larsson. Florida could not generate anything on that power play and it played the rest of the game without its leading scorer from the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. After the hit, Rodrigues remained down on the ice for an extended period of time before being helped off by head trainer Dave DiNapoli.
Here are three takeaways from Florida’s Game 3 victory:
Florida may have spent most of the first period on the power play, but it helped them get past one of their biggest problem of the series — Toronto’s fast-paced starts.
After giving up six first-period goals in the first three games, the Panthers held the Leafs off the scoresheet to open Game 4. Florida outshot Toronto 9-4 at 5-on-5, and 15-4 in total, holding the rush-happy Maple Leafs to one high-danger chance in the first period.
The Panthers were able to get to their forecheck, tighten their gaps and play the game on their terms.
After giving up four or more goals in each of the first three games of the series, Bobrovsky looked a lot more like himself in Game 4.
The Panthers did not leave much work for him in the first period, but he had to be good in the second period. The Maple Leafs found holes in Florida’s tight gap game in the second period and generated seven high-danger chances and he came up with stops on all of them.
Ahead of Game 3, Florida coach Paul Maurice opted to swap Verhaeghe onto the second line next to Bennett and Tkachuk and it has paid off with big goals in back-to-back games.
The trio was the driver behind the Panthers’ Game 4 victory, with Tkachuk and Verhaeghe connecting on the power play and Bennett scoring with Verhaeghe acting as the decoy off the rush after the turnover. With Verhaeghe being a bigger physical presence than he has ever been in the playoffs — hitting a career-high in hits in a single run in just the eighth game of this postseason — they have struck the Leafs with a combination of speed and physicality. Toronto is still searching for an answer for that as it returns home for Game 5.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Panthers, Maple Leafs Stanley Cup series tied at 2 after Florida's 2-0 win
Continue reading...
Behind a 22-save shutout from Sergei Bobrovsky and their best defensive showing of the series, the Panthers evened things with the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 2-0 victory on May 11.
Joseph Woll kept the Maple Leafs in it, making 35 saves and keeping the door shut until Sam Bennett scored the insurance marker with 7:50 to go in the third period to help the Panthers finish their climb back from a 0-2 series deficit.
The Panthers had three chances to score on the power play early on but could not break though. Florida rattled off five shots in those first three power-play opportunities to no avail. But they got a break when ex-Panther Oliver Ekman-Larsson took a delay of game penalty with just two seconds remaining in their third power play of the first period.
More: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman happy for Florida Panthers franchise, fans and owner Vinnie Viola
Carter Verhaeghe finally broke the seal with 5:15 to go in the first period. He tapped home a one-timer nine seconds into Florida’s fourth power play of the game to give the Panthers their first 1-0 lead of the series.
With Woll keeping the Maple Leafs within arm’s length, the Panthers had to face Toronto’s vaunted five-forward power play unit three times in the second period — and they held them off. That included a 1:45 sequence where Toronto had Florida barricaded in its own zone but the Panthers allowed one shot on goal.
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The Panthers saw a five-minute power play reduced to a two-minute minor early in the third period after Evan Rodrigues took a high hit from Ekman-Larsson. Florida could not generate anything on that power play and it played the rest of the game without its leading scorer from the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. After the hit, Rodrigues remained down on the ice for an extended period of time before being helped off by head trainer Dave DiNapoli.
Here are three takeaways from Florida’s Game 3 victory:
Panthers finally start a game on the right foot
Florida may have spent most of the first period on the power play, but it helped them get past one of their biggest problem of the series — Toronto’s fast-paced starts.
After giving up six first-period goals in the first three games, the Panthers held the Leafs off the scoresheet to open Game 4. Florida outshot Toronto 9-4 at 5-on-5, and 15-4 in total, holding the rush-happy Maple Leafs to one high-danger chance in the first period.
The Panthers were able to get to their forecheck, tighten their gaps and play the game on their terms.
Sergei Bobrovsky backstops Florida after leaky start to the series
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After giving up four or more goals in each of the first three games of the series, Bobrovsky looked a lot more like himself in Game 4.
The Panthers did not leave much work for him in the first period, but he had to be good in the second period. The Maple Leafs found holes in Florida’s tight gap game in the second period and generated seven high-danger chances and he came up with stops on all of them.
Florida’s second line clicking with Carter Verhaeghe in tow
Ahead of Game 3, Florida coach Paul Maurice opted to swap Verhaeghe onto the second line next to Bennett and Tkachuk and it has paid off with big goals in back-to-back games.
The trio was the driver behind the Panthers’ Game 4 victory, with Tkachuk and Verhaeghe connecting on the power play and Bennett scoring with Verhaeghe acting as the decoy off the rush after the turnover. With Verhaeghe being a bigger physical presence than he has ever been in the playoffs — hitting a career-high in hits in a single run in just the eighth game of this postseason — they have struck the Leafs with a combination of speed and physicality. Toronto is still searching for an answer for that as it returns home for Game 5.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Panthers, Maple Leafs Stanley Cup series tied at 2 after Florida's 2-0 win
Continue reading...
