SUNRISE – The Maple Leafs have been on the entrance foot and had all of the momentum.
Having fallen behind 2-0 early and 3-1 simply three minutes into Friday’s second interval, the Florida Panthers seemed to be teetering on the brink after struggling consecutive one-goal street losses to search out themselves in a deep playoff gap.
Properly-drilled at locking down opponents all season with a grinding type below head coach Craig Berube, Toronto appeared nicely on its option to a 3-0 stranglehold on this matchup of Atlantic Division titans.
The defending Stanley Cup champions pushed again — and refused to go away.
Brad Marchand scored the winner at 15:17 of additional time Friday on a deflected shot because the Panthers twice battled again from two-goal deficits to choose up a 5-4 victory and claw their manner again into the groups’ knife-edged second-round sequence.
The Leafs ultimately responded and tied issues halfway via the third when defenceman Morgan Rielly’s shot pinballed off Florida counterpart Seth Jones. Toronto then had a few nice probabilities within the additional interval earlier than Marchand gave his group life.
Regardless of steadying themselves to get again on degree phrases, the guests appeared again on the center interval with remorse — unable to match the Panthers’ desperation.
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“That lapse within the second and (permitting) them again within the recreation … simply preserve our foot on the pedal as a lot as doable,” Toronto blueliner Jake McCabe mentioned of what his group can be hoping to enhance because it pivots to Sunday’s Sport 4 within the best-of-seven showdown.
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“They’re going to have their pushes, too, climate these and provides them our personal push like we did within the third. These video games are tight. It’s back-and-forth hockey.”
The Leafs have been resilient all through the common schedule and have maintained that within the playoffs. When the Ottawa Senators took momentum within the first spherical, Toronto normally had a solution.
The identical was true via the primary two video games of this sequence — 5-4 and 4-3 victories on house ice. Toronto might want to draw on that have after Florida tightened the screws inside a rocking Amerant Financial institution Area.
“Enjoying our recreation for the entire 60 minutes,” Berube mentioned of his message transferring ahead. “We’ve received to be simply direct with what we have to do.”
Rielly, who together with scoring had two Florida targets go off him to beat Joseph Woll in Toronto’s internet, together with Marchand’s winner, mentioned his group must match Florida’s resolve.
“We anticipated it to be aggressive,” he mentioned. “We anticipated them to be determined, and so they have been.”
Making his second straight begin instead of the injured Anthony Stolarz, Woll allowed 5 targets on 36 pictures.
“We’ve preached all yr to play to our course of, and no matter how the sport goes, what the rating is, the place the momentum is at, and sticking to that,” he mentioned. “We’ve completed a great job of that over the course playoffs. That’s what we fall again on.”
Leafs centre John Tavares mentioned his group — within the second spherical for simply the second time within the NHL’s wage cap period — continues to be assured within the drivers’ seat.
“It’s a battle,” he mentioned after scoring twice in Sport 3. “Excited concerning the alternative that we have now on Sunday. We’re proper there, so simply preserve going. We all know we could be higher in a whole lot of areas.
“Probability to regroup and reset and get again at it.”
The champs can be ready.
SICK NOTE
Veteran goaltender Matt Murray, who suited because the backup in Sport 2 with Stolarz out, was unable to decorate for Toronto attributable to an sickness. Denis Hildeby, a rookie with simply six video games of NHL expertise, was the group’s No. 2 possibility Friday.
ON THE PROWL
The 36-year-old Marchand’s winner was his fourth-career playoff OT objective to place him one again of solely Patrick Kane, Corey Perry and teammate Carter Verhaeghe for probably the most amongst energetic gamers.
“In additional time, there’s not a nasty shot you possibly can put on the internet,” mentioned Marchand, a participant with a protracted historical past delivering Toronto post-season heartbreak from his time with the Boston Bruins. “Fortuitous bounce, however that’s what occurs once you put pucks there.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Might 9, 2025.
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