The Florida Panthers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 tonight at Amerant Bank Arena. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead to end the first, that’s all the Cats needed from an offensive standpoint to defeat the traveling blue and white. The Maple Leafs battled hard but once again were shut down by Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
In the opening period, the Maple Leafs actually started out strong. A few early chances generated by the Maple Leafs offense were quickly turned aside by Sergei Bobrovsky, leading to a bit of a momentum shift in the Panthers favor. Once the Cats started to generate some opportunities of their own, a shot from the half wall late in the period by Panthers forward Kevin Stenlund beat Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov.
It was a blind pass up the wall by Maple Leafs defenseman John Klingberg that caused the turnover for Kevin Stenlund’s goal. It’s important to note that Maple Leafs forward David Kampf was also caught out of position on the play, as John Klingberg’s pass was supposed to hit David Kampf’s blade for a breakout.
As the period slowly started coming to an end, another point shot from Florida Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson found its way into the back of the Maple Leafs net. The Maple Leafs were caught flat-footed in the defensive zone, which led to the Panthers capitalizing on the attack for a second goal. The Panthers went into the first intermission up 2-0.
Once the second period was underway, the Maple Leafs came out strong once again, but the Panthers kept them off the board. Despite the strong start for Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, the Maple Leafs kept pressing, eventually leading to a power-play opportunity.
After moving the puck around on the man advantage, William Nylander found John Tavares alone in the slot for the shot. Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was once again on point, stopping the Maple Leafs captain’s attempt. However, the rebound from John’s shot found the blade of Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner, who put the puck into the Panthers goal.
Once the Maple Leafs finally cracked Sergei Bobrovsky, the blue and white nearly came close once again as Matthew Knies almost got his first of the year. Maple Leafs forward Noah Gregor used his speed to draw an opportunity for Matthew Knies in the slot, but the net was knocked off just as time expired in the second period.
Once the final frame was underway, the Maple Leafs kept coming in waves, testing Sergei Bobrovsky. Similar to last year’s postseason for Toronto, the blue and white couldn’t find another goal to tie the game before time eventually expired. The Maple Leafs almost scored after their late push in the third as John Tavares’ rebound looked like it just clipped the post, but nothing ended up going into the goal.
Just as time was about to expire, Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart sent the puck into the empty net. With 0.2 seconds remaining, the Florida Panthers closed the game with a 3-1 victory, ensuring their second win of the year.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be back in action on Saturday as they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts will be without star goaltender Andrei Vasilevsky but don’t underestimate this Lightning squad, who’s still loaded with talent. It’ll surely be an entertaining matchup between the two sides, so don’t miss it!
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