Sunrise, Fla. (AP) — Joseph Woll stopped 24 pictures in his initial playoff get started, Mitch Marner and William Nylander experienced the ambitions and the Toronto Maple Leafs staved off elimination by beating the Florida Panthers 2-1 in Sport 4 of their Japanese Meeting semifinal collection Wednesday night time.
Nylander was the beneficiary of an odd bounce for a electric power-enjoy score in the second interval, Marner scored halfway as a result of the third and Woll did the relaxation as he took the area of hurt starter Ilya Samsonov.
Sam Reinhart scored for Florida, which obtained 23 will save from Sergei Bobrovsky. The Panthers still direct the series 3-1, with Recreation 5 in Toronto on Friday night time.
Woll, who turns 25 on July 12, was bidding to turn out to be the youngest Toronto goalie to have a playoff shutout considering the fact that Felix Potvin — then 23 — stopped 42 pictures to conquer Chicago 3- on May perhaps 9, 1995.
He was 7:47 away from pulling it off.
Reinhart — who had the OT winner in Activity 3 — took a brief go from Matthew Tkachuk and uncovered a way to just get the puck by way of Woll’s leg pads for a energy-participate in score, chopping Toronto’s direct to 2-1.
Nylander’s surname is pronounced KNEE-lander, which seemed fitting on the opening objective.
Toronto went extra than five whole periods — 107 minutes and 46 seconds, to be specific, going back to late in the second period of Sport 2 — without having a electric power enjoy till Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen received referred to as for superior-sticking the Leafs’ Michael Bunting early in the second interval.
And they cashed in, thanks to the hockey gods who oversee mad bounces.
Bunting tried out dumping the puck all-around the internet from the suitable-wing boards, only to have it bounce off the knee of referee Jon McIsaac as he tried to get out of the way. It skipped to the front of the net, where Nylander knocked it previous Bobrovsky for a 1- Toronto direct.
It was the initially target of the series for Toronto’s large 4 gamers of Nylander, Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Marner.
The rating stayed 1- heading into the third, nevertheless Toronto had a significant chance to go up two in the ultimate seconds of the 2nd period. Tavares acquired unfastened down the middle of the ice on a breakaway, but Bobrovsky knocked absent his endeavor to the stick facet to maintain Florida in just one.
Marner produced it 2- with 9:57 left, and the Leafs held on. They haven’t been swept in a playoff series since 1980 — a greatest-of-5 versus the Minnesota North Stars — and not in a most effective-of-seven considering the fact that Montreal ousted them in 4 online games in 1979.
Even now NO SWEEP
Florida has under no circumstances swept a playoff series. The Panthers also have not clinched a series on home ice due to the fact 1996.
All over THE RINK
It was the 12th occupation begin (very first in a playoff match) for Woll and the 680th for Bobrovsky (54th in a playoff sport). … With Samsonov damage, the Maple Leafs recalled G Dennis Hildeby from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies to be the team’s crisis backup goalie. Matt Murray backed up Woll.
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