The Panthers and Leafs are Now Tied. Is Anyone Surprised?

SUNRISE — Paul Maurice has mentioned time after time during the Panthers and Maple Leafs playoff series about how much he does not believe in the concept of momentum.

Sunday night, after his team pulled out a 2-0 win in the most dominating fashion a score that looked like that could, Maurice sort of let his guard down.

“We didn’t get scored on in the first 35 seconds,’’ Maurice deadpanned.

“That was a nice change for us.”

Maurice was, of course, referring to the fact that in two of the three prior games of this series that Toronto was on the scoreboard within seconds of the opening faceoff.

The  first two games, won by the Maple Leafs, were not as close as the one-goal differential might indicate.

Now?

Following Florida’s 2-0 win on Sunday, the best-of-7 series is tied at 2.

It has been a close series, technically, although it has not always felt as such.

In Game 3, Florida escaped with an overtime win after relinquishing a lead entering the third period.

The Panthers dominated Game 4, outshooting the Maple Leafs 37-23.

Toronto had only 12 shots through the first two periods.

Auston Matthews, who has 33 regular season goals, has been held off the scoresheet in the four games. William Nylander hasn’t scored since the second game.

In the few instances where Toronto penetrated the solid defense, Sergei Bobrovsky came up strong while earning his second shutout of this year’s playoffs and his fifth career postseason shutout.

Before this series began most experts predicted a long, hard-fought series.

They were right.

Florida cannot afford to sit back after two consecutive wins, and Toronto does not seem fazed by the losses. They know where they failed.

“They’re a team that puts a lot of pucks to the net,’’ Matthews said after Sunday’s loss.

“I thought we didn’t do a good enough job of helping our D in executing coming out of the zone. They were able to kind of sustain O-zone pressure throughout the game. There were times we were better, but I think just consistently over 60 minutes they outworked us and outplayed us in that area.”

He echoed what other teammates, and his coach said.

It is a series that is far from over.

“A couple of days to reset,’’ Matthews said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We’re playing the defending Cup champs. … Just got to continue to push. Clean up some things. Get better in different areas and go back on home ice and be excited about that.”

Toronto coach Craig Berube lamented the four first period penalties his team took, which limited any momentum they may have had.

Then, of course, it cost them when Carter Verhaeghe made it 1-0 late in the first.

“It’s a battle out there,” Berube said. “This is what it is. They don’t give you a lot. So (if) we capitalize on some of the opportunities we had, it’s a different game. Right?”

Maurice added what has been a frequent comment.

Something to carry over for Game 5 on Wednesday?

Perhaps. Or not.

“Be mindful it’s one game. I don’t believe in momentum,’’ Maurice repeated. “I don’t believe in trends. The puck will drop in the next game, and we’ll have to fight hard to get back to what I thought was a pretty well played game by our team.”

Sunday’s game was fairly peaceful save for Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s third-period hit which knocked his former teammate Evan Rodrigues out of the game. OEL was initially called for a 5-minute major, but after review, it was reduced to two minutes.

There was no word postgame on Rodrigues’ condition.

At the final buzzer, there was a dustup when Max Domi took a run at Sasha Barkov and his teammates immediately came to his aid.

Domi was assessed a 5-minute major for boarding, so the league will be looking at it considering the circumstances.

“I think the league looks at those things very closely, especially at that point of the game,’’ Maurice said. “That’s their job.’’

A small side show ensued when Matthew Tkachuk and William Nylander had words from the benches.

As usual, it looked like Tkachuk did most of the talking.

Nylander downplayed it after the game.

“Just talk between us,’’ he said.

When pressed, Nylander added, “he will probably do whatever he can do to get a player off their game. Next will be a fun one.”

Playoff hockey.

You’ve got to love it.

Game 5 comes Wednesday night.

It’s a whole new series now.

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: GAME 4

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS 

Best-of-7 series tied 2-2

• When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
• National TV: ESPN
• 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: @Florida 5, Toronto 4 (OT); Game 4: @Florida 2, Toronto 0; Game 5: Wednesday @Toronto, 7 (ESPN); Game 6: Friday @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)