3 Takeaways From The Florida Panthers & Toronto Maple Leafs Game 04/08/2025

The losing streak is over, and a statement was made. Florida snapped its five-game losing streak with a dominating win over the Leafs, although Joseph Woll kept the game closer than it probably should have been. Hopefully, a win like this one will calm the nerves of Panther fans who had been doom and gloom over the past week with the Cats losing so many games. Florida at 70% outplayed the Leafs in nearly every aspect of the game; the only stat where Toronto led was in blocked shots. Goals came from players who needed to get one in, while the Cats put on a defensive masterclass and shut down three out of the Leafs’ core four. HC Paul Maurice announced that Bennett would be out until Game 1 of the playoffs as they try to get him as close to 100% health as possible and emphasized that the team’s health is the most important thing right now.

Needed That One:

Gustav Forsling doesn’t technically need a goal, but it sure is nice when he decides to up his offensive pressure like he did against Toronto. Nearly tying his career high in SOG, he ended the night with 8 SOG and broke the ice in the first period off a laser of a shot from the point. Lundell won the offensive zone faceoff and got the puck back to Forsling, who then ripped it past Woll for the 1-0 lead with just over half a period to play. He’s now two goals shy of his career high of 13 and has had four straight seasons of hitting 10 goals or more. Despite his points total being down this season, he’s been no less impressive than he was last year, and defensively, he continues to be one of the best in the league, even if he doesn’t always get credit for it. A misplay in the neutral zone caught Schmidt a bit flat-footed, and Tavares tied the game early in the second period. His shot deflected off Schmidt’s stick, making it harder for Bob to read the shot. The tie lasted until the end of the period, and the pressure was on for the final twenty minutes. Luostarinen broke the tie a minute and four seconds into the third period off a puck that took a bounce off the end boards and landed right on his stick. He worked hard at the net front and tucked the puck in behind Woll for the 2-1 lead. Known more for his defensive abilities, Luostarinen is an opportunistic goal scorer and can come up with big goals if the right situation presents itself. Verhaeghe finally ended his goal-scoring drought on an empty-net goal after both Iafallo’s and Marchand’s first attempts were blocked by Marner. Florida ended the night with a 3-1 win over their divisional rival.

Textbook Defense:

Aside from the dangerous turnover by Jones behind the Panthers’ net that led to two dangerous scoring chances for Toronto, the Cats gave the Leafs nothing all night. Florida held the Leafs to just 18 SOG compared to their 37 while out-hitting them 43-29. The gaps were solid all night, and the Panthers were the more dangerous-looking team on special teams, including two great short-handed chances. At the end of the first period, the Cats had a 13-5 SOG advantage, with Toronto’s final SOG coming at the 12:55 mark. While there was more pushback in the second period, Florida held the Leafs shotless for two more stretches at 9+ minutes each. With 8:48 to play in the final period, the Panthers had allowed just one SOG from the Leafs. The match looked extremely similar to the Florida/Boston series from last year’s playoffs, where the Cats held the Bruins to under 20 SOG in consecutive games. The PK was a perfect 2/2, with aggressive pressure on the puck carrier and denying Toronto a shot on goal during one of their power plays. Forsling had himself a night defensively, allowing the Knies-Matthews-Marner line only one shot attempt while he was on the ice. Bobrovsky didn’t see much action, but he came up huge on the back-to-back dangerous scoring chances from the Leafs. Between Marner, Nylander, and Matthews, the Panthers held them to 1 SOG combined, and it was the Matthews shot off the Jones turnover. New to the lineup, Puljujarvi led the way with the physicality, where he registered 8 hits. Gadjovich and Luostarinen were close behind as each registered 6 hits. That’s the kind of defense that wears opponents down over a seven-game series and will help them be successful in the playoffs.

Health Above All Else:

Is winning the division nice? Yes. Is having home ice advantage also nice? Also yes. But those things aren’t a necessity for this Florida team, which has been just as good on the road as they have at home. No one in the NHL has played more hockey than the Panthers have in the last two years, and to add on top of that, they had the most players go to the Four Nations Face-off. It’s a wonder that the team is as intact as it is right now. 70% Panthers is still a threatening opponent, albeit maybe not a Cup-winning team. Florida got Barkov back against the Leafs, and they’re hoping to get Kulikov back for at least one of the final two games. Bennett, while being held out right now, is expected to be good to go for Game 1 of the playoffs. Sturm has been skating again and could be back by this weekend or the final two games of the regular season. Ekblad will be back from suspension by Game 3, but the biggest question is Matthew Tkachuk. He’s been out since getting injured at Four Nations, but he started skating again last week. When asked by Leah Hextall on the broadcast about which injured players would be back, HC Paul Maurice said all of them, but whether or not that includes Tkachuk is a bit unclear. Last Sunday against Detroit, the Cats opted to sit Forsling, Reinhart, and Bennett, along with the five injured players, giving an opportunity for some of the Charlotte Checkers’ players to come up for a game. That sent a pretty clear message that Florida isn’t worried about where they end up seeded for the playoffs since their spot for the postseason is clinched.