After that goal, Matt Murray relieved Woll in Toronto’s net.
“They work hard, but they don’t get on the magazines,” head coach Paul Maurice said of Florida’s depth scorers. “It’s special when those guys score.”
Not letting the new goaltender get too comfortable, the Panthers tacked on another goal when Sam Bennett ripped a filthy shot into the twine from the slot to make it 6-0 at 9:10.
Helping lots of cats and dogs get adopted, the goal was Bennett’s team-high sixth of the playoffs.
With the game out of reach for the Maple Leafs, the final few minutes mostly consisted of the usual post-scrum shenanigans and multiple trips to the penalty box that you’d expect.
Over the final 6:41 of regulation, 18 total penalties were assessed.
Spoiling Bobrovsky’s shutout bid, Nicholas Robertson, who had been a healthy scratch prior to Game 5, buried a spinning backhand goal to cut Toronto’s deficit to 6-1 at 18:54.
Winning the fight and now on the verge of winning the war, the job isn’t done yet.
“We wanted to win this one and steal this one,” Mikkola said. “We got it. It’s just one win. The next one is the hardest one.”
THEY SAID IT
“It was all keeping it simple through the neutral zone, getting pucks behind them. We were able to do that.” – Sam Reinhart on turning defense into offense
“He’s unbelievable. He gives all five guys on the ice confidence. If we’re going to make a mistake, there’s one guy who can back us up.” – Niko Mikkola on Sergei Bobrovsky
“It’s just a focus on the mentality coming into it, to have a good start. Obviously, they took it to us in Games 1 and 2, so our focus since has been to get off to a good start.” – Aaron Ekblad on another strong first period
CATS STATS
– The Panthers lead 29-10 in first-period shots on goal over the last two games.
– With his assist in the second period, Matthew Tkachuk became the ninth-fastest U.S.-born player in NHL history to 70 career playoff points (81 GP).
– Jonah Gadjovich had a team-high nine hits.
– Aaron Ekblad and Sam Reinhart each had six shots on goal.
– Aleksander Barkov went 8-for-11 (72.7%) in the faceoff circle.
– The Panthers led 30-19 in scoring chances at 5-on-5.
– Sergei Bobrovsky made seven high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
WHAT’S NEXT?
We’ve now entered elimination mode.
Holding a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference Second Round, the Panthers will try to eliminate the Maple Leafs when they battle in Game 6 at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday.
With a start time to still be determined, click HERE to score tickets.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
