The Florida Panthers knotted its second round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs by blanking the visiting Buds 2-0 in a largely dominating performance at Amerant Bank Arena.
After failing to cash in on minor penalties to Max Domi, Bobby McMann and Matthew Knies, Florida’s power play finally clicked on its fourth chance of the first period, which came after former Panther Oliver Ekman-Larsson shot the puck into the crowd from his own end.
Joseph Woll, who was incredible from start to finish, stopped Seth Jones’ slapper. Aleksander Barkov fetched the rebound in the left corner and fed it up the boards to Matthew Tkachuk. Tkachuk whipped a centering pass to Carter Verhaeghe, who drove the puck into the back of the net at 15:45.
The Cats held the Maple Leafs to just four shots on goal during the opening twenty minutes. One of those was a quality chance from Auston Matthews that Sergei Bobrovsky calmly caught with his glove.
Florida continued to carry the majority of play in the middle frame, but did give Toronto chances to tie by getting whistled for three minors. Thankfully, the penalty kill was up to the task.
With the Maple Leafs trying to force the issue as time ran down in the third, Aaron Ekblad denied entry at the blue line, knocking the puck back into the opposing zone. Sam Bennett tracked it down and worked his way towards the net with Verhaeghe driving to the back post. Bennett’s patience sent both defensemen to Verhaeghe and then he slammed on the brakes, pulling Woll to the ice and emphatically smacked the puck home. The glorious insurance goal came with 7:53 remaining in regulation.
Toronto would test Bobrovsky three more times to no avail as the back-on-track 36-year-old posted his second shutout of the postseason.
The frustrated Maple Leafs could have some supplemental discipline from the league heading their way. Ekman-Larsson was originally given a major penalty for interfering with the Evan Rodrigues, who didn’t return after taking the blindside hit. The penalty was reduced to a minor, but I’d expect a fine. As the clock was running out, Domi came across the ice and nailed a defenseless Barkov in the back. A dirty hit that drew a major for boarding call and is worthy of a suspension. Barkov got right back up and seemed no worse for wear, which is the most important thing.
As I mentioned in the comment section of the Game 3 recap, I thought the Panthers seemed to figure things out as Friday’s game wore on. That was on full display last night as the Cats stifled the Maple Leafs, holding them to just 23 shots and keeping their dangerous counter-attack bottled up for the most part. If not for a fantastic performance from Woll over the first two periods, the Panthers would’ve won going away.
The teams will get a couple days off before playing Game 5 on Wednesday in Toronto. We are least going six. Way to get all the way back in the series, Panthers! Well done!
Rakes & Bags
- Game 4’s goalie duel saw Sergei Bobrovksy nab First Star honors for posting his fifth career playoff shutout. Joseph Woll did everything he could to keep his team close, finishing with 35 saves. Woll was named Third Star.
- Just wanted to single out Gustav Forsling for bailing out Aaron Ekblad and getting back to spoil William Nylander’s breakaway late in the second period. That’s a huge momentum shifter if Nylander scores.
- Yeah, he had the one pylon moment, however, Ekblad assisted on Sam Bennett’s clincher, played a team-high 25:28, and was credited with two shots, three hits and a block.
- Florida got strong games from Sam 1 and Sam 2. In addition to his beautiful insurance marker, Bennett dished out a game-high eight hits (tied with Max Pacioretty and Simon Benoit). Sam Reinhart didn’t figure in the scoring, but registered a game-high seven shots. Reinhart is due for a big game.
- Carter Verhaeghe has goals in back-to-back games and picked up the 11th game-winner of his postseason career. Verhaeghe became the first Panther to hit 30 playoffs goals.
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