The Florida Panthers clawed back at home to even the series against the Toronto Maple Leafs before heading back to Toronto for Game 5. The Panthers built off their first series win in Game 3, with none other than Brad Marchand being the overtime hero to breathe life back into the Panthers’ playoff hopes.
The Panthers held their own much more effectively to start this one than they had done in Games 1, 2, and 3. That is to say, they didn’t allow the Leafs to score in the opening minutes of the game. Rather, the Panthers got to work offensively early on, posting four shots on goal in the first five minutes while only allowing Toronto one. Much like the previous games in this series, both teams struggled to gain a clear upper hand. The first period was earmarked by a ton of back-and-forth hockey. After failing to convert on their first three opportunities on the power play, the Panthers opened the scoring on their fourth opportunity with the man advantage courtesy of Carter Verhaeghe, who has been slowly but surely returning to form over the course of the playoffs. The Panthers dominated in the shot column to end the first period, 15-4.
The Panthers’ dominance in both ends of the ice continued into the second period. The Maple Leafs only got a single shot off in the first five minutes of the period. The Panthers managed to pepper Joseph Woll with 6 shots in the same time frame. The Maple Leafs had several solid opportunities in the second period, most of which came from the end of William Nylander’s stick, but the Panthers maintained composure and held them off, keeping the game tied heading into the third and final frame. Shot totals still heavily favored the Panthers at 29-12, but the scoreline held at 1-0, showing just how stellar of a game Woll had put together up to that point.
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The Panthers headed back to the power play early in the third period after Oliver Ekman-Larsson elbowed Evan Rodrigues (who did not return to the game) in the head despite the two being nowhere near the puck. The Maple Leafs killed it off and kept the scoreline at 1-0. With around eight minutes left in the game, Sam Bennett stutter-stepped just short of Woll’s crease and netted a beauty of a wrist shot to widen the Panthers’ lead to 2-0. The Maple Leafs attempted to mount a comeback in the waning minutes of the final frame after pulling Woll, but the Panthers held onto the shutout and evened the series 2-2.
