After stinking up Scotiabank Arena for much of the first two periods, the Florida Panthers launched a massive comeback effort before coming up a tad short in a disappointing 6-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are now just four points behind the Cats in the standings.
Nick Robertson opened the scoring at 13:59 of the first when Matthew Knies sent him off for a breakaway after a turnover by Dmitry Kulikov. Robertson made it look easy as he maneuvered around Sergei Bobrovsky.
Auston Matthews would convert a cross-crease pass from T.J. Brodie 33 seconds later to establish a new career-high in goals with his 61st of the campaign.
The Panthers would briefly rally to halve the deficit 47 seconds into the middle frame. Carter Verhaeghe fed Brandon Montour and he beat Ilya Samsonsov, who seemingly lost sight of the puck, from the right point.
Florida’s positive momentum didn’t last long as Tyler Bertuzzi redirected a pass from Matthews through Bobrovsky’s five-hole 39 seconds later. David Kampf made it 4-1 at the 8:32 mark by backhanding in his own rebound after Kulikov gagged up the puck again, and then Knies put the Buds up by four with 5:55 to go in the period by finishing off Pontus Holmberg’s pass after he rounded the net.
With Anthony Stolarz in to start the third, Vladimir Tarasenko pulled one back at 2:12 when he deftly deflected Niko Mikkola’s shot past Samsonov after Eetu Luostarinen fed the towering defenseman at the left point.
After Tarasenko’s centering attempt on the rush didn’t click, he picked the puck back up and reset behind the net before feeding out to Reinhart, who ripped a shot home while skating through the right circle towards the cage. Aleksander Barkov collected the second assist on Reinhart’s 52nd.
The Panthers crept within a goal when Sam Bennett scored with 1:50 left on the clock and Stolarz off for an extra attacker. Bennett sniped Samsonov’s glove from just above the left circle after taking a return pass from Tarasenko. Matthew Tkachuk drew the secondary assist on the well-executed play.
Matthews would ice it with an empty-net goal from his own blue line after reclaiming possession after Tarasenko did a good job of blocking his pass that would’ve allowed the Buds to exit the zone.
Another slow start combined with some sloppy puck management and a bunch of defensive breakdowns equals yet another loss. Great effort in the third period, however, too much of the forty minutes preceding that, where they allowed the Maple Leafs to score five times on just 16 shots, was putrid.
I’m not saying this is reality, but in my eyes, the Panthers look very much like a team that has already peaked and isn’t going very far in the postseason. Right now, they are giving me 2022 vibes. Remember when they were never quite the same after Tampa Bay ended that 13-game winning streak? That season, the Cats drew the eight seed, a very ordinary Washington Capitals and were able to at least muck through the first round. This year, the task will be tougher, and with the way they are going right now, they might not have home ice advantage. On the good news side of the ledger, they still have seven games left to sort their sh*t out before the playoffs begin, starting with tonight’s tilt in Montreal.
Rakes & Bags
- Big night for First Star Auston Matthews. Toronto’s superstar scored on both of his shots on goal, added an assist, and dished out three hits. Matthew is up to 62 goals and just two points away from his second 100-point season.
- Vladimir Tarasenko earned Third Star honors for his second three-point performance in a Panthers uniform. It was the first time he collected multiple assists in a game with the Cats.
- Tarasenko, Matthew Tkachuk and Anton Lundell each finished with a game-high four shots on goal.
- Ilya Samonsov earned his 21st win with 26 saves; Anthony Stolarz denied all six shots he faced in the third; and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped of 11 of 16 shots before departing.
- The Cats went 0-for-4 on the power play (boo!) and killed off all three (yay!) of Toronto’s man-advantage chances.