With a 5-4 win on Monday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs take a 1-0 series lead over the Florida Panthers.
The two teams went at it again, two years after their first series, which Toronto lost in five games. Since then, the Maple Leafs have brought in a new coach in Craig Berube, while the Panthers have added a Stanley Cup to their resume.
Toronto eliminated the Ottawa Senators in six games. William Nylander led the way with nine points—three goals and six assists—in the series. New father Mitch Marner (one goal, seven assists) is one point behind Nylander for the team lead through six games.
Nylander led the Maple Leafs in points during the game with two goals and an assist, now with 12 points in seven games. Matthew Knies scored the game-winner, his fourth goal of the playoffs, with six minutes remaining in the third period.
Steven Lorentz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Anthony Stolarz, three former Panthers, face their former team in the postseason after winning the ultimate prize last June.
Florida eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games. Selke Trophy nominee Sam Reinhart led the team in points with two goals and four assists during the series. Sergei Bobrovsky had a .901 save percentage in the five games played.
3rd Period
During the second intermission, Sportsnet showed Stolarz appearing to throw up on the Maple Leafs' bench. After stopping four shots in the middle frame, Woll led the Maple Leafs out for the third period.
As the final period began, the team announced that Stolarz wouldn't return to the game and remains under evaluation. Dennis Hildeby is Toronto's third goalie.
Maple Leafs’ Anthony Stolarz Leaves Game 1 After Taking Elbow From Panthers’ Sam BennettThe Toronto Maple Leafs’ goaltending situation took an unexpected turn in Game 1 of their second-round series against the Florida Panthers, as Anthony Stolarz was forced to leave the game midway through the second period after appearing to take an elbow to the head from Panthers forward Sam Bennett.
At 1:39 of the third period, Eetu Luostarinen one-hands a pass from Anton Lundell in front, which beats Woll over the glove to make it a 4-2 game.
Nearly three minutes later, Uvis Balinskis beats Woll over the shoulder to cut Toronto's lead to just a goal. Brad Marchand assisted on Florida's second and third goals.
Domi finishes his check on Matthew Tkachuk, putting him into the boards, before joining the rush with Bobby McMann on a two-on-one. McMann gets the puck across to Domi, but Bobrovsky stops the chance.
Shortly after Domi's scoring opportunity, Knies finds himself behind the Panthers' defense. Marner ties up Nate Schmidt's stick before sending the 22-year-old on a breakaway.
He pulls the puck to the backhand and beats Bobrovsky with six minutes left in the third period, putting Toronto up 5-3. It's Knies' fourth goal in seven playoff games this year.
With 1:53 remaining in the third period and Bobrovsky on the bench, Tavares tries to clear the puck, but cannot, and Bennett's shot goes off two Maple Leafs sticks before beating Woll over the shoulder.
2nd Period
After not scoring on a power play early in the period, the Panthers went to the man advantage following Pontus Holmberg's interference with Jones in front of Florida's net.
The Panthers weren't able to score, but had some strong chances, including one at the end of the power play where Sam Bennett's forearm hit Stolarz in the head.
Tanev's knuckler of a point shot beats Bobrovsky, putting Toronto up 4-1 at 7:50 of the second period. It's the 35-year-old's first goal since the regular season finale against the Detroit Red Wings.
McCabe tallies his second assist of the game, and Knies gets his first assist of the playoffs. Toronto's defense now has seven of the Maple Leafs' 23 goals during the postseason.
Joseph Woll enters the net at 10:14 for the Maple Leafs after Stolarz goes to the dressing room. Stolarz was in good spirits, speaking and smiling with Woll during the TV timeout.
Knies buries Jones in the corner of Florida's zone before setting up Auston Matthews for a chance. The Maple Leafs' captain's shot just goes wide.
1st Period
Nylander scores the series-opening goal 33 seconds into the game. It's his fourth goal in seven games, with assists going to Max Pacioretty and Jake McCabe. Bobrovsky couldn't see anything with John Tavares and Seth Jones battling in front.
Toronto's second line continued with another chance a few minutes later. Nylander finds Tavares in the slot, and his shot is stopped by Bobrovsky before going out of play.
The Maple Leafs' third line gets involved after a few chances from the second line. Max Domi deflected Chris Tanev's point shot before it took another deflection as it travelled to the net. Bobrovsky made the difficult stop with his glove.
Domi takes a cross-checking penalty 6:38 into the first period after getting tied up with Brad Marchand following a whistle. Toronto's coaching staff was surprised by the call. The Maple Leafs allowed one shot on Florida's power play.
McCabe throws a massive hit on Dmitry Kulikov, heating the game even more than it already was.
Nylander scores his second goal of the game and fifth of the playoffs at 12:51 after Ekman-Larsson's rebound bounced to him. It's the defenseman's first assist of the playoffs. Nylander shimmied left and right before going upstairs on Bobrovsky.
The Maple Leafs have two goals on their first six shots of the game.
Toronto takes a too-many-men penalty midway through their power play. Jones gets the Panthers on the board with his second goal of the playoffs at 16:57 as his point shot beats Stolarz.
Nineteen seconds after Florida cut Toronto's lead in half, Morgan Rielly found himself on a two-on-one with Tavares after a pass from Nylander. Rielly beats Bobrovsky over the blocker for his third postseason goal, putting the Maple Leafs up 3-1.
Nylander's third point of the night ties him for the playoff lead with Mikko Rantanen and Kyle Connor.
Stay updated with the most interesting Maple Leafs stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.
