The Florida Panthers played a full game on Wednesday night, but they are still coming home in an 0-2 hole after losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. Florida tied the score at 3 in the third, but 17 seconds later, Mitch Marner gave Toronto the lead back and Joseph Woll held on for a 4-3 win in Game 2 of the second round playoff series.
Toronto leads the best-of-7 series 2-0 with Game 3 in Sunrise on Friday night. Florida got its first lead of the series midway through the first period when Sasha Barkov scored 5 seconds into the team’s first power play of the night. The Panthers led again at 2-1 when Brad Marchand scored 15 seconds into the second, but the Leafs scored twice in the period to take a 3-2 lead into the third.
Anton Lundell scored a net-front goal off a feed from Aaron Ekblad at 5:33 of the third, but Marner gave Toronto the lead back on a saucer shot toward the net that hit the cage and went in. Woll made 26 saves in place of Anthony Stolarz; Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 in the loss. The Panthers have not been down 0-2 in a series since the 2023 Stanley Cup Final they lost in 5 to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Panthers have never won a playoff series being down 2-0.
Last season, the Panthers split the first two in New York before losing Game 3 at home to go down 2-1. Florida rallied to win the Eastern Conference title in 6 games. GAME 2: PANTHERS @ LEAFS - Of Woll’s five career playoff starts, three have come against the Panthers — the last of which came in Game 5 of the 2023 second round won in OT by the Panthers. This season, Woll and Stolarz became the first goalie tandem in Leafs history to win 20 games each.
Florida has killed off seven of eight power plays in the two games thus far. The Panthers came into Wednesday trailing in a playoff series for the first time since it was down 2-1 to the Rangers in the 2024 ECF. Barkov tied Ray Sheppard and Dave Lowry for the fourth most playoff power-play goals in franchise history with four each. Lowry’s son, Adam, plays for the Winnipeg Jets. Nylander scored his sixth goal of the postseason – the most in a playoff year by a Maple Leafs player since Joe Nieuwendyk (six in 2004).
PANTHERS / LEAFS SCORING - Panthers 1, Leafs 0 (10:58 1st PP): Sasha Barkov wins the faceoff, gets the puck to Seth Jones who feeds it back to Barkov for a wrister under the glove of Joseph Woll. - Leafs 1, Panthers 1 (18:19 1st PP): The Leafs score on their eighth power-play chance of the series, Max Pacioretty deflecting a shot from Morgan Reilly past Sergei Bobrovsky. - Panthers 2, Leafs 1 (0:15 2nd): Eetu Luostarinen forces a turnover in the offensive zone, gets the puck to Anton Lundell who leaves it for Brad Marchand in the slot for the backhander. - Leafs 2, Panthers 2: Pacioretty and William Nylander get loose on the 2-on-1, Nylander finishing it off the cross-ice pass. - Leafs 3, Panthers 2 (17:09 2nd): The Panthers cough up the puck at the neutral zone and Steven Lorentz feeds Max Domi on the 2-on-1. - Panthers 3, Leafs 3 (5:33 3rd): Aaron Ekblad fires toward the front of the net from the halfwall to Lundell, who pulls the puck off his skate and puts it through. - Leafs 4, Panthers 3 (5:50 3rd): Just 17 seconds later, Mitch Marner floats a point shot through traffic that finds its way past Bobrovsky. That turned out to be the winner.
FHN’S 3 STARS OF GAME 2 - 1. Joseph Woll, Toronto - 2. Mitch Marner, Toronto - 3. Anton Lundell, Florida 2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: GAME 3 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS Toronto Leads Best-of-7 Series 2-0 - When: Friday, 7 p.m. - Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise - National TV: TNT/truTV - National Streaming: MAX - Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM - Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App - Series Schedule — Game 1: @Toronto 5, Florida 4; Game 2: @Toronto 4, Panthers 3; Game 3: Friday @Florida, 7 (TNT/truTV); Game 4: Sunday @Florida, 7:30 (TBS/truTV); Game 5: Wednesday May 14 @Toronto TBA (ESPN); Game 6:Friday May 16 @Florida TBA (TNT/truTV); Game 7*: Sunday May 18 @Toronto TBA (TNT/truTV).
How They Got Here: Toronto d. Ottawa 4-2; Florida d. Tampa Bay 4-1 - This Regular Season: Panthers Won 3-1; Last Regular Season: Tied 2-2 - All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 51-40-7, 7 ties - All-time Postseason: Panthers d. Toronto 4-1 (2023 ECS)
