Kevin Stenlund and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored their first goals with the franchise and Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves as the Florida Panthers ground out a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Cats’ home-opener at Amerant Bank Arena.
Stenlund gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at the 17:08 mark of the first period with a beautiful wrist shot off the far post from the top of the right face-off circle after John Klingberg backhanded the puck up the boards, trying to relieve the pressure caused by the forechecking of Ryan Lomberg and Steven Lorentz.
After receiving a pass from Aleksander Barkov at the right point, Ekman-Larsson moved to the middle before snapping off a shot that eluded a screened Ilya Samsonov with seven seconds left in the period. Sam Reinhart, who was one of three players in front of Samsonov, picked up the secondary assist.
The Maple Leafs upped their level in the second period and finally got on the board at 11:52 with Reinhart off for hooking. Michael Nylander set up John Tavares for a blast from the slot that was denied by Bobrovksy, but Mitch Marner was able to deftly sweep the rebound in on the backhand.
Bobrovsky stopped 13 of 14 shots in the second period and was perfect in third, turning aside all seven Toronto shots while getting some help from his mates, particularly in the late stages after Barkov took a tripping penalty with 1:09 left on the clock and Toronto pulled Samsonov for a 6-on-4 advantage. Hats off to Niko Mikkola and Stenlund who put their bodies on the line to preserve the lead.
Reinhart completed the scoring into an empty net with a long-range, shorthanded dart to beat the buzzer with the lone assist going to defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.
Florida’s victory in the goaltenders’ duel left both teams with a 2-2 record. Bobrovsky was named the game’s First Star for a second straight time while Samsonov, who didn’t see either of the shots that beat him, finished with 21 saves, including all eight when the Maple Leafs were shorthanded.
The Cats will get the day off before hosting the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
Mowers & Blowers
- Sergei Bobrovsky posted his 107th win with the Panthers, passing John Vanbiesbrouck for second place in franchise history. Roberto Luongo leads with 230.
- Aleksander Barkov set up the game-winning goal, registered two shots on goal, a hit, and won 14 of 22 face-offs while playing 21:08.
- After scoring back-to-back hat tricks to open the season, Auston Matthews was held without a point for the second straight game. Matthews put five shots on goal and finished with a minus-two rating.
- No slow start for Sam Reinhart. After being held off the score sheet in Minnesota, Reinhart has scored in the three consecutive games and leads the Cats with four goals and six points.
- The teams combined for seven penalties in the second period and nine overall. Toronto was 1-for-5 on the power play; Florida went 0-for-4.