Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves, Matthew Tkachuk had three assists and the Florida Panthers survived a blown two-goal lead to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Tuesday in the opener of their second-round playoff series.
Sam Bennett had a goal and an assist and Carter Verhaeghe and Nick Cousins also scored for Florida. Aleksander Barkov had two assists.
Matthew Knies had his first NHL goal and Michael Bunting also scored for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov stopped 24 shots.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday.
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Florida Panthers hug center Nick Cousins (21) who scored his first playoff goal in the first period as the Toronto Maple Leafs play the Florida Panthers in the first game of the second round of the NHL playoffs Stanley Cup at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. May 2, 2023. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
The Panthers had rallied from a 3-1 deficit to shock the record-setting Boston Bruins with three straight wins and take that first-round series in seven games.
The Maple Leafs ended a generation of misery Saturday when John Tavares scored in Game 6 overtime against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto advanced to the postseason for the first time since 2004.
Tied at 2 late in the second period with pressure from the Maple Leafs, the Panthers silenced the towel-waving crowd at Scotiabank Arena.
Verhaeghe, who scored the dramatic game-winner in Game 7 against Boston on Sunday, caught a pass from Anthony Duclair and gave Florida the lead for good when he beat Samsonov on a breakaway at 17:47 for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Toronto had a couple of chances to tie the score in the third, but never really threatened Bobrovsky before Montour fired a late penalty at 12:24.
Carter Verhaeghe #23 of the Florida Panthers celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period in Game One of the Second Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 2, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario , Canada. (Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
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Bobrovsky then denied William Nylander in an excellent spike save with just over a minute remaining in regulation in Toronto’s best chance to close within one.
The Maple Leafs are in the second round of the playoffs for the first time since Jeremy Roenick scored in Game 6 overtime to help the Philadelphia Flyers eliminate Toronto on May 4, 2004, a streak of 18 years, 11 months, and 28 days.
After Toronto had several terrific looks on two power plays, the Panthers struck when Cousins scored his first on a rebound at 9:25 of the first period.
Helped when a shot hit the post early in the period, Samsonov made great saves on Anton Lundell and Barkov.
Bobrovsky made a couple of big saves against Auston Matthews on a Maple Leafs power play in the second before Florida won 2-0 at 7:58, when Bennett launched a tip shot past Samsonov that initially hit the ball. Knies stick.
The Toronto rookie made amends 11 seconds later when he scored his first professional goal in a standout effort between his back-skates to the Florida goal after Bobrovsky made the opening save.
Maple Leafs defenseman Luke Schenn then rocked Tkachuk with a big shot in the neutral zone before Bunting, who was suspended three games in the first round and made a healthy scratch for another, scored his first of the postseason. at 14:51 after a perfect pass. from Jarnkrok street.
Duclair brought out Verhaeghe later in the turn and put the Panthers up 3-2.
TAVARES BUSY
In addition to scoring the overtime goal that gave the Maple Leafs their first series win in 19 years, the Toronto captain and his wife recently welcomed their third child, a girl named Rae.
«Absolute whirlwind for him,» Toronto center Ryan O’Reilly said before the game.
Nick Cousins #21 of the Florida Panthers celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period in Game One of the Second Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 2, 2023 in Toronto , Ontario, Canada. (Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
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MAURICE LOOKS BACK
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice was behind the bench when the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Maple Leafs in the 2002 Eastern Conference final.
«I don’t think we gave up a 5-on-5 goal in that series,» he said. «That was back when you could get away with grabbing and grabbing.
«We were really good at it.»