RECAP: Panthers 6, Maple Leafs 1

TORONTO – The Florida Panthers understood the assignment.

Dominant at both ends of the ice in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Second Round, the defending Stanley Cup champions looked in control from the moment the puck dropped in a 6-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.

“We were just focused on the first 10 [minutes],” forward Sam Reinhart said. “It’s segments, playing our game. We thought we had some jump early, tried to defend hard and got the win.”

After falling behind 2-0 in the series, the Panthers now lead 3-2.

On Friday, they’ll have a chance to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Final with Game 6 in Sunrise.

“It’s a belief in our group, our veteran group, that’s been in this situation before,” defenseman Aaron Ekblad said of turning things around in the series. “At the end of the day, the job’s not done. There’s still a lot of work to do, to go home, recover and have our best game at home in Game 6.”

Building off his 23-save shutout in Game 4, Sergei Bobrovsky came up with a huge save in the first period, stopping William Nylander on a breakaway for the second straight game.

Finishing off a fantastic shift from the top line later in the period, Ekblad opened the scoring for the Panthers when he took a pass from Sam Reinhart and fired a shot from the left circle over Joseph Woll’s blocker into the far corner of the cage to make it 1-0 at 14:38.

Slotting back into the lineup with Evan Rodrigues (injury) out, Jesper Boqvist had the secondary assist.

“It was a good opportunity for me,” said Boqvist, who also scored a goal and racked up eight hits in the win. “Obviously, I enjoyed every second of it. It helps getting to play with two of the best players in the world. I just tried to move my feet, and tonight it worked.”

With the Maple Leafs on the power play, Bobrovsky closed out the first period with another stellar stop, this time lunging to his left to deny Matthew Knies on a shot from the doorstep.

We trust in Bob like you wouldn't believe," Ekblad said.

With more offense coming from the blue line, the Panthers doubled their lead in the second period when Dmitry Kulikov unloaded a booming slap shot that caught a piece of Maple Leafs forward Scott Laughton’s sick before zooming past Woll to make it 2-0 at 6:08.

Turning defense into offense, the Panthers kept on rolling when Gustav Forsling intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and sent it up the ice to Reinhart to kickstart a counterattack.

With lots of space to work with, Reinhart waited patiently before sending the puck toward the crease and right onto the stick of Boqvist, who tapped in a goal to make it 3-0 at 10:05.

“He’s just got so much speed, battles out there,” Reinhart said of Boqvist, who scored a career-high 12 goals in the regular season. “Any time you can get those legs, especially in a tight-checking series like this, it’s going to be a positive. He stepped in, was very comfortable and made some big plays for us tonight.”

From Sweden to Finland, the Panthers next goal came from a different Nordic nation.

Feasting on the forecheck, Eetu Luostarinen swiped a pass in the offensive zone before sending the puck to Anton Lundell, who then set up Niko Mikkola – the third Finnish-born player in on the play – for a blistering slap shot from the left circle to make it 4-0 at 14:01.

With that, the Panthers matched a franchise milestone by having three different blueliners score a goal in a playoff game, a feat they only accomplished one other time back in 2012.

Additionally, Florida leads the playoffs with 10 goals from defensemen.

“I was happy for those guys,” Mikkola chuckled when asked about joining Ekblad and Kulikov in the scoring department. “It was nice to get one. It’s been a little quiet for me.”

Shutting down any would-be comeback for the Maple Leafs, the Panthers held their ground on the penalty kill early in the third period, with Bobrovsky coming up with two key saves.

Not taking their foot off the gas, the Panthers padded their lead further when A.J. Greer found a loose puck just outside the blue paint and fired it past Woll to make it 5-0 at 6:23.

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.