WHEW: Florida Panthers Rally, Survive, Beat Maple Leafs in OT of Game 3

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers got off to about as bad a start as one could imagine Friday night, giving up two quick goals to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a series they had already found trouble in.

Then the Panthers got rolling again.

Only it took some time.

In the end, Brad Marchand scored with 4:33 left in OT to give the Panthers a 5-4 win in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series.

The Maple Leafs lead the best-of-7 series 2-1 with Game 4 here on Sunday night.

All three games in the series have been decided by a single goal.

This time, the Panthers found a way to win it.

Only it didn’t come easily.

Matthew Knies scored just 23 seconds into the game, firing a one-timer off a rebound from the cage. John Tavares got his first of two against his old pals, making it 2-0 by wrapping a puck in at 5:57 of the period.

Florida got back into it when Sasha Barkov’s attempt to send a pass to Sam Reinhart hit Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly and past Joseph Woll.

The Panthers trailed 3-1 in the second off a Tavares power-play deflection, but things quickly changed.

Florida got goals from Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, and Jonah Gadjovich to take a 4-3 lead into the third.

Toronto tied the score at 4 midway through the third, Rielly getting some puckluck of his own as his shot went off Marchand, then Sergei Bobrovsky, and off the leg of Seth Jones.

One of those deals.

Bobrovsky ended with 27 saves including eight in OT.

He kept the Panthers in it — allowing Marchand’s shot in overtime, which went off Rielly in front, to win the game and keep Florida’s hopes alive.

GAME 3: MAPLE LEAFS @ PANTHERS

• Knies’ goal was Toronto’s fastest goal to start a playoff game in more than 62 years and fourth-fastest in franchise history. Bob Pulford scored 17 seconds into a game in 1962.0:17 in Game 5 of 1962 SCF).
• With William Nylander scoring 33 seconds into Game 1 of this series, Toronto had two goals in the opening minute of two playoff games for the first time since 1951.
• The Panthers made wholesale changes to their fourth line in Game 3 with Tomas Nosek coming in for Nico Sturm; A.J. Greer and Jonah Gadjovich also got in with Mackie Samoskevich and Jesper Boqvist coming out.

LEAFS / PANTHERS SCORING

• Leafs 1, Panthers 0 (0:23 1st): A hard Mitch Marner slapshot rings off the cage —and Matthew Knies is all alone in the slot to slam it home.
• Leafs 2, Panthers 0 (5:57 1st): John Tavares rolls through the zone, loops around the cage while pulling Sergei Bobrovsky out of position and scores on the wraparound.
• Leafs 2, Panthers 1 (7:38 1st): Sam Reinhart’s forecheck forces a turnover deep in the offensive zone, he gets the puck to Sasha Barkov who is tripped up on his way to the net. Barkov attempts a pass back to Reinhart, but the puck goes off Morgan Rielly and in.
• Leafs 3, Panthers 1 (2:52 2nd PP): Tavares gets his second, deflecting a Marner point shot from the slot with the puck bouncing through traffic and past Bobrovsky.
• Leafs 3, Panthers 2 (4:14 2nd): Joseph Woll makes the initial stop on a Evan Rodrigues shot, but Reinhart gets a stick on it before the puck creeps across the line after Woll seemingly pushed it through. It took a replay to award the goal.
• Panthers 3, Leafs 3 (5:17 2nd): Sam Bennett comes in hot after Matthew Tkachuk freed up the puck along the wall, Bennett pulling Woll out of position before passing to a wide open Carter Verhaeghe for the tap in.
• Panthers 4, Leafs 3 (15:07 2nd): Tomas Nosek helps give the Panthers their first lead of the game, coming through the zone and flinging a shot from 50 feet out that clips Jonah Gadjovich and gets past Woll.
• Leafs 4, Panthers 4 (10:56 3rd): Rielly got his payback, with a shot from the right circle hitting not one, but two Panthers (Brad Marchand, Seth Jones) on its way past Bobrovsky to tie the score again.
• Panthers 5, Leafs 4 (15:27 OT): Marchand wins it for the Panthers by getting it off — who else? — but Rielly.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF GAME 3

• 1. Brad Marchand, Florida
• 2. Sam Reinhart, Florida
• 3. John Tavares, Toronto

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: GAME 4

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Sunday, 7:30 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: @Florida 5, Toronto 4 (OT); 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)