As the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs prepare to do battle in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, let’s take a look back at the regular season series between the two Atlantic Division rivals, which ended with the Cats taking three out of the four meetings.
Game 1: Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 1
The seasons-series began with a convincing 5-1 beatdown over Maple Leafs on November 28 as Florida halted a four-game losing streak.
Aleksander Barkov got the Cats off to a fast start when he pounded in a pass from Aaron Ekblad from the right circle after Carter Verhaeghe fed the defenseman at the point. All five Panthers touched the puck on the goal, which came at 4:46 and with Nikita Grebenkin off for boarding.
After taking a pass from Eetu Luostarinen, Mackie Samoskevich followed-up after trying to force the puck back to his linemate and beat former Panther Anthony Stolarz high glove-side to make it 2-0 fifty seconds later.
That would be it for goals for a while until a holding call on Evan Rodrigues late in the second period provided a spark.
Sam Reinhart bumped the lead to three when he joined Barkov and Ekblad’s shorthanded rush and took a drop pass from the captain and solved Stolarz with a perfectly-placed wrister from between the circles at 17:04.
Mitch Marner would show off his skills by scoring a pretty goal from in close with 19 seconds left in Rodrigues’ penalty after the puck came towards Sergei Bobrovksy following a faceoff. The goal extended Marner’s point streak to five games.
The Panthers would take advantage of a double-minor for high-sticking on William Nylander to put the game away with 5:23 remaining on the clock. After receiving a pass from Sam Bennett, Rodrigues dumped the puck around the boards from right to left. Bennett smartly let the puck go past him to Verhaeghe, who took possession and skated into the left circle before rifling a shot over Stolarz’ short-side shoulder to restore Florida’s three-goal lead.
Verhaeghe would combine with Matthew Tkachuk to set Bennett up for an empty-netter at 18:32 to complete the scoring, sending the sellout crowd at Amerant Bank Arena home happy.
Game 2: Panthers 3, Maple Leafs 2
The second meeting didn’t occur until March 13 and saw Bennett score a pair of power-play goals at Scotiabank Arena to propel the Panthers to a 3-2 win.
At the time, Florida’s 41st win of the season gave them a four-point cushion over Toronto in the race for first place in the Atlantic Division, with the Maple Leafs holding a game in hand.
A slick move and pass by Nylander set up John Tavares’ successful one-timer from the right circle to open the scoring exactly two minutes into the tilt. Simon Benoit drew the secondary helper on the quick strike from the home side.
Bennett would equalize with 2:09 left in the frame with former Panther Oliver Ekman-Larsson off for roughing. Samoskevich, who drew the penalty, took a pass from Reinhart burst to the net where he was denied by Stolarz. The rebound came to Bennett and he swatted it home.
The Panthers added another 13:56 into the second when a determined A.J. Greer’s crisp centering pass found Niko Mikkola jumping into the slot and the towering defenseman then cranked a wrister past Stolarz to break the tie.
Bennett would extend the lead 3:17 later, thanks to a too many men on the ice call on the Maple Leafs. With time running out on the man-advantage, Samoskevich passed to Reinhart below the goal line and he fed Bennett in the bumper spot for the conversion. Kudos to Seth Jones, who made an incredible play to hold the puck in the zone, which led to the goal.
Toronto would halve the deficit 4:26 into the final frame when Calle Jarnkrok took an exit pass from Ekman-Larsson before springing Max Domi. The speedy Domi broke in on Bobrovsky and beat him with a shot that found space between leg pad and glove.
After gagging up a third period lead two nights prior in Boston, the Panthers were able to clamp down the rest of the way to capture a key two points.
Florida’s penalty kill went a perfect 3-on-3 on the night, including two big denials in the first half of the second while the score was still tied.
Bobrovsky finished with 23 saves to post his 424th career win, passing Chicago Blackhawks legend Tony Esposito for 10th place on the NHL’s all-time list.
Game 3: Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 2
Mired in an offensive slump, and without the services of centers Barkov and Nico Sturm, the Cats dropped a tough 3-2 decision to the Buds at Scotiabank Arena on April 2 that pretty much ended any realistic chance they had of winning the division.
Subbing in spare parts Tomas Nosek and Jonah Gadjovich, Florida managed to get to the dressing room in a scoreless tie after the first twenty minutes.
The Panthers would cash-in on Chris Tanev’s high-sticking minor when Bennett crossed to Reinhart, who dropped to Gustav Forsling. Forsling hammered a one-timer past Stolarz for his tenth goal of the season at the 1:03 mark.
Tavares knotted the score by redirecting Nylander’s pass in from the top of the crease at the 11:31 mark, giving the red-hot vet goals in six of Toronto’s last seven games.
Marner notched the go-ahead goal after Auston Matthews fired a shot on Bobrovksy and then collected the puck after Matthew Knies took a whack at it and fed the crafty winger in the right circle and he snapped it home with 9:10 remaining in regulation.
After taking a pass from Jake McCabe, Marner would find Knies open behind Nate Schmidt and he took it to the net and slipped a backhand off the post, that hit Bobrovksy’s back leg before going in to complete a breakaway with Mikkola in hot pursuit at 15:09.
That Knies goal turned out to be huge as Reinhart would snipe his former teammate, who was screened by Anton Lundell and a couple of Buds, from the high slot after taking a pass from Samoskevich with 3:38 left on the clock. Jones drew the secondary assist on Florida’s second power-play goal of the night.
The Panthers pulled Bobrovsky, but could not come up with the equalizer. No surprise there as the Cats were having a devil of a time getting to three goals in a given game during this period of time.
Given the state of the roster, the Panthers gave a good effort, but it’s hard to win in this league when you can’t score more than two goals.
Game 4: Panthers 3, Maple Leafs 1
With division title out of reach, the Panthers showed Toronto they still might be the top cats in the Atlantic with a suffocating 3-1 victory in the final regular season meeting at Amerant Bank Arena six days later.
Forsling opened the scoring when he wristed Lundell’s faceoff win over Joseph Woll’s glove from long-range at 9:26 of the first period.
Toronto would even the tilt 1:06 into the second. Tavares reeled in a loose puck after Forsling whacked it away from Nylander at the Florida blue line and skated in on Bobrovsky before firing a shot that ramped up off Schmidt’s stick and beat the veteran netminder up high.
With the Cats applying offensive zone pressure, Schmidt dumped the puck behind the net. Morgan Rielly tried to retrieve, but instead, misplayed the puck in front to Luostarinen, whose one-armed backhand swipe found safe harbor behind Woll 1:04 into the final frame.
While the Panthers held the Maple Leafs to a mere four shots on goal in third, Bobrovsky had to come up huge to deny a wide-open Matthews in the slot and then stop Knies on the rebound follow-up with 5:25 remaining.
Verhaeghe would add the clincher into an empty-netter at 19:13, converting a pass from Brad Marchand after the former Bruin had his bid for his first as a Panther blocked by Marner. Barkov started the play off by stealing the puck from Matthews. Verhaeghe hadn’t lit the lamp since scoring against the Buffalo Sabres on March 8.
A stellar defensive effort and just enough offense from the Panthers, who added a few regulars back into the lineup, was enough to end a frustrating five-game losing streak.
So, there you have it. The Panthers and Maple Leafs will begin their second postseason duel on Monday night in Toronto.