TORONTO (AP) — Mitch Marner scored the tiebreaking aim within the third interval and the Toronto Maple Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Wednesday evening to take a 2-0 lead of their second-round playoff collection.
Max Pacioretty and Max Domi every had a aim and an help, William Nylander additionally scored and Morgan Rielly added two assists for the Maple Leafs. Joseph Woll had 25 saves rather than the injured Anthony Stolarz.
Anton Lundell had a aim and an help, and Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand additionally scored for the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky completed with 16 saves.
The very best-of-seven matchup between Atlantic Division heavyweights now shifts to South Florida, with Sport 3 set for Friday.
Woll obtained the beginning after Stolarz exited halfway by Monday’s collection opener following an elbow to the top from Panthers middle Sam Bennett.
Trailing 3-2 after two durations, Florida tied it obtained even at 5:33 of the third when Lundell shoveled his third aim of the playoffs previous Woll.
Toronto regained the lead simply 17 seconds later when Marner fired a shot from the boards that discovered its manner by visitors previous a stunned Bobrovsky.
Woll made an enormous cease on Mackie Samoskevich with 9:59 left in regulation, and Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe swatted a unfastened puck out of the crease with underneath six minutes to go. The Panthers continued to press and Sam Reinhart hit the publish with simply over three minutes left earlier than the Maple Leafs held on late.
Florida, which beat Toronto in 5 video games two years in the past on the identical stage of the playoffs, went forward 2-1 simply 15 seconds into the center interval when Marchand — a Maple Leafs playoff nemesis as a member of the Boston Bruins — took a move from Lundell down low off a turnover by Rielly and roofed his first of the playoffs.
Toronto tied it at 4:18 when Pacioretty chipped a puck previous Panthers defenseman Seth Jones earlier than discovering Nylander in entrance for him to bury his sixth, and the ahead’s seventh level in three video games.
The Maple Leafs took a 3-2 lead with 2:51 remaining within the second when Domi took a move from Steven Lorentz on a 2-on-1 and one-timed his second over a sprawling Bobrovsky.
Toronto obtained nothing from two energy performs inside the sport’s first 10 minutes earlier than Florida struck 5 seconds into its first man benefit when Barkov fired previous Woll for his second at 10:58.
The Maple Leafs obtained their third energy play of the interval when Dmitry Kulikov was whistled for delay of sport for capturing the puck out of play. Toronto once more didn’t get a lot going till the second unit took the ice and Rielly fired a shot from the purpose late within the man benefit that Pacioretty — a wholesome scratch to start out the postseason earlier than scoring the series-clinching aim towards Ottawa within the first spherical — tipped it upstairs for his second with 1:41 left earlier than the primary intermission.
The Panthers had defenseman Aaron Ekblad again following a two-game suspension for a forearm to the chin of Tampa Bay Lightning ahead Brandon Hagel within the first spherical. The 29-year-old has performed simply three his workforce’s final 25 video games after getting suspended in March for violating the league’s coverage on performance-enhancing medication.
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