Sergei Bobrovsky produced 34 will save and the Florida Panthers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Thursday night time to acquire a 2- direct in their second-spherical playoff sequence.
Anton Lundell experienced a target and an aid, and Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling also scored for Florida.
Ryan O’Reilly and Alexander Kerfoot scored for Toronto, which blew an early 2- lead. Ilya Samsonov stopped 26 shots.
The best-of-7 series shifts to Sunrise, Florida, for Game 3 on Sunday. Match 4 is scheduled for Wednesday.
Toronto led 2-1 subsequent a spirited, chippy initially interval. Problems identified the Maple Leafs in the next.
Barkov tied the activity 19 seconds into the period on a prolonged shot for his second objective of the postseason. Significantly less than a moment afterwards, there was some sloppy perform by Toronto in the defensive zone when Mitch Marner flipped an ill-suggested pass to Auston Matthews, who couldn’t get it out of the zone.
Florida quickly countered as Forsling concluded off a setup by Matthew Tkachuk — his fourth of the series — for his second and a 3-2 guide.
The Maple Leafs took a though to get better prior to Nylander strike the publish with a shot that also hit Bobrovsky in the again and stayed out. Florida defenseman Brandon Montour then strike the submit at the other finish.
Toronto captain John Tavares had a wonderful prospect in entrance just before Josh Mahura took a Nylander shot off the visor that left a trail of blood on the ice as he exited for the locker place. The Panthers defenseman returned for the third interval.
Toronto came out for the third with a great deal of urgency, but could not clear up Bobrovsky, who has started out to rediscover his Vezina Trophy-profitable form in these playoffs right after shedding the beginning career late in the common season to 3rd-stringer Alex Lyon.
Tavares was stopped in on your own and Nylander strike a further article. The Maple Leafs winger was also denied in limited with 5 minutes still left in regulation.
Toronto ongoing to push with Samsonov on the bench for an additional attacker, but couldn’t conquer Bobrovsky.
Toronto dropped the collection opener 4-2 at Scotiabank Arena, but acquired off to a quick start Thursday when Kerfoot scored on the rebound of a Luke Schenn position shot for his next at 2:20 of the first.
Not able to join on two early electricity performs in Match 1, the Maple Leafs created it 2- on a person benefit at 5:10 when Marner observed O’Reilly, who scored his 3rd on a just one-timer.
The Panthers, who conquer the file-setting Boston Bruins in seven online games to make the next round, commenced to push again as the time period wore on, together with Sam Bennett placing Matthew Knies in a headlock and slamming him to the ice.
The Toronto rookie completed the interval, but failed to return for the next time period owing to an undisclosed injuries.
Florida responded at 11:13 when Lundell scored his 1st following linemate Eetu Luostarinen crushed Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren at the rear of Samsonov’s internet and Tavares fell.
MATTHEWS ON THE MARK
Matthews assisted on O’Reilly’s to start with-time period purpose, providing him details in 8 straight games and matching a franchise file formerly shared by Gary Roberts (2002), Doug Gilmour (1993) and Gary Leeman (1986).
GET KRAKEN
Toronto defenseman Mark Giordano — the initial captain in Seattle Kraken heritage — has been maintaining tabs on his outdated team’s operate in the playoffs.
The next-calendar year franchise concluded 30th in final year’s standings, but secured the Western Conference’s 1st wild-card place this spring right before upsetting the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in 7 online games in the initially round.
“The basis was laid in location very last yr,” claimed Giordano, acquired by Toronto prior to the 2022 trade deadline. “They also produced some massive additions and definitely assisted their workforce.”
