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SUNRISE — When the Florida Panthers acquired Brad Marchand at the NHL trade deadline, they probably envisioned the veteran center winning a Stanley Cup Playoff game in overtime.
Yeah, right.
Nonetheless ... with the Panthers on the brink of a three-game hole, the former Boston Bruins star threw a puck on net with 6:53 to go in overtime. It bounced off a Toronto Maple Leafs defender and into the goal to give Florida a 5-4 win.
Florida cut Toronto’s series lead to 2-1, avoiding the brink of elimination and living to see at least a Game 5 in Toronto. Of course, before that trip to Canada, the Panthers will host Game 4 on May 11 to try to even the series.
More: Florida Panthers' Sam Bennett will not be penalized for hit to head on Toronto Maple Leafs goalie
The night started ominously for the home team. Matthew Knies opened the scoring 23 seconds into the game, deflecting a Mitch Marner shot past Sergei Bobrovsky to put Toronto ahead. John Tavares extended that lead to 2-0 with a wrap-around 5:57 into the game.
Aleksander Barkov brought the Panthers back within a goal less than two minutes later. He tried to get a backhand shot as he was tripped while driving the net and the puck deflected off defenseman Morgan Reilly’s stick and in to make it a 2-1 game 7:38 into the first period.
Tavares restored Toronto’s two-goal lead 2:52 into the second period, deflecting a Marner shot past Bobrovsky on a power play to make it 3-1. The Panthers fought back, again, to tie the game less than two minutes later.
Sam Reinhart deflected a shot that leaked through Toronto goalie Joseph Woll and eventually past the goal line after multiple Maple Leafs defenders dove into the crease to try to keep it out. It was ruled a goal upon a lengthy review and the Panthers made it a 3-2 game 4:14 into the second period.
Carter Verhaeghe tied the game 1:14 later, tapping home a backhand feed from Sam Bennett. Jonah Gadjovich gave the Panthers the lead with 4:53 to go in the second period by deflecting a Tomas Nosek shot past Woll.
Reilly tied the game back up with 9:04 to go. His wide-angle shot from the point deflected off of Bobrovsky’s blocker, off Seth Jones’ knee and into the net to make it a 4-4 game.
And send the game into overtime. Here are three takeaways from Florida's win:
Marchand has delivered on everything the Panthers have needed from him since the start of the postseason.
He and his third-line linemates, Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, have taken on heavy minutes with Matthew Tkachuk still hampered by a lower-body injury and they have, in turn, been Florida’s best line. Marchand has two goals and eight points in his first seven playoff games as a Panther.
With the Panthers straying away from their usual tight, physical style of play, coach Paul Maurice opted to make a wholesale change to his fourth line. Out came Nico Sturm, Mackie Samoskevich and Jesper Boqvist; in came Gadjovich, Nosek and A.J. Greer.
The trio played together as Florida’s primary fourth line before trades for Sturm and Marchand forced them out of Florida’s lineup. Their chemistry was apparent as they set the tone with big hits and heavy forechecking and they came up with a big goal at a big time to give the Panthers the lead momentarily.
They were trusted with a few crucial shifts early in overtime to help set the tone, and they delivered.
After struggling to finish on a few crucial chances in the first two games of this series, Carter Verhaeghe exploded onto the scene with a one-goal, one-assist performance in Game 3.
Verhaeghe set up Marchand’s goal and tapped home a crucial tying goal, but his real impact has been his physicality. He racked up seven hits — all coming in the first two periods — as the Panthers looked to push back into the game following a sluggish start.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Stanley Cup OT thriller: Brad Marchand's goal lifts Panthers past Maple Leafs
Continue reading...
Yeah, right.
Nonetheless ... with the Panthers on the brink of a three-game hole, the former Boston Bruins star threw a puck on net with 6:53 to go in overtime. It bounced off a Toronto Maple Leafs defender and into the goal to give Florida a 5-4 win.
Florida cut Toronto’s series lead to 2-1, avoiding the brink of elimination and living to see at least a Game 5 in Toronto. Of course, before that trip to Canada, the Panthers will host Game 4 on May 11 to try to even the series.
More: Florida Panthers' Sam Bennett will not be penalized for hit to head on Toronto Maple Leafs goalie
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The night started ominously for the home team. Matthew Knies opened the scoring 23 seconds into the game, deflecting a Mitch Marner shot past Sergei Bobrovsky to put Toronto ahead. John Tavares extended that lead to 2-0 with a wrap-around 5:57 into the game.
Aleksander Barkov brought the Panthers back within a goal less than two minutes later. He tried to get a backhand shot as he was tripped while driving the net and the puck deflected off defenseman Morgan Reilly’s stick and in to make it a 2-1 game 7:38 into the first period.
Tavares restored Toronto’s two-goal lead 2:52 into the second period, deflecting a Marner shot past Bobrovsky on a power play to make it 3-1. The Panthers fought back, again, to tie the game less than two minutes later.
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Sam Reinhart deflected a shot that leaked through Toronto goalie Joseph Woll and eventually past the goal line after multiple Maple Leafs defenders dove into the crease to try to keep it out. It was ruled a goal upon a lengthy review and the Panthers made it a 3-2 game 4:14 into the second period.
Carter Verhaeghe tied the game 1:14 later, tapping home a backhand feed from Sam Bennett. Jonah Gadjovich gave the Panthers the lead with 4:53 to go in the second period by deflecting a Tomas Nosek shot past Woll.
Reilly tied the game back up with 9:04 to go. His wide-angle shot from the point deflected off of Bobrovsky’s blocker, off Seth Jones’ knee and into the net to make it a 4-4 game.
And send the game into overtime. Here are three takeaways from Florida's win:
Brad Marchand has fit right in with the Panthers
Marchand has delivered on everything the Panthers have needed from him since the start of the postseason.
He and his third-line linemates, Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, have taken on heavy minutes with Matthew Tkachuk still hampered by a lower-body injury and they have, in turn, been Florida’s best line. Marchand has two goals and eight points in his first seven playoff games as a Panther.
Wholesale change on fourth line pays off for Florida
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With the Panthers straying away from their usual tight, physical style of play, coach Paul Maurice opted to make a wholesale change to his fourth line. Out came Nico Sturm, Mackie Samoskevich and Jesper Boqvist; in came Gadjovich, Nosek and A.J. Greer.
The trio played together as Florida’s primary fourth line before trades for Sturm and Marchand forced them out of Florida’s lineup. Their chemistry was apparent as they set the tone with big hits and heavy forechecking and they came up with a big goal at a big time to give the Panthers the lead momentarily.
They were trusted with a few crucial shifts early in overtime to help set the tone, and they delivered.
Carter Verhaeghe has explosive performance after missed opportunities
After struggling to finish on a few crucial chances in the first two games of this series, Carter Verhaeghe exploded onto the scene with a one-goal, one-assist performance in Game 3.
Verhaeghe set up Marchand’s goal and tapped home a crucial tying goal, but his real impact has been his physicality. He racked up seven hits — all coming in the first two periods — as the Panthers looked to push back into the game following a sluggish start.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Stanley Cup OT thriller: Brad Marchand's goal lifts Panthers past Maple Leafs
Continue reading...
