Florida Panthers Battle, Lose Atlantic Showdown to Maple Leafs

The Panthers were shorthanded again, yet battled the Atlantic Division leading Toronto Maple Leafs for the entirety of their game on Wednesday night.

Florida, which had Sasha Barkov and Nico Sturm join a growing absentee list, limited Toronto’s chances and were tied with 10 minutes left in regulation.

Only a one-timer from Mitch Marner gave the Maple Leafs their first lead, one Toronto held on to for a 3-2 win over the Panthers.

With the win, Toronto extended its lead in the Atlantic to three points on the Lightning and four on Florida.

The Maple Leafs also officially clinched a berth in the playoffs.

The two teams play again next week in Sunrise.

After a scoreless first, Gus Forsling gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead early in the second.

John Tavares continues to haunt the Panthers, scoring his 28th career goal against Florida by redirecting a William Nylander shot.

The Leafs eventually took a 3-1 lead late in the third, but Sam Reinhart (goal, assist) pulled Florida within a goal on a power-play snipe at 17:22.

Both Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz were terrific in net.

NOTES: PANTHERS @ LEAFS

• Bobrovsky played in his 750th NHL game on Wednesday, 24th most in NHL history.
• The Panthers have scored three goals or fewer in their past 11 games.

HOW THEY SCORED

• Panthers 1, Maple Leafs 0 (1:03 2nd): Gus Forsling smashes a feed from Sam Reinhart in the slot and beats Anthony Stolarz.
• Maple Leafs 1, Panthers 1 (11:31 2nd): John Tavares redirects a shot from William Nylander in front of the net.
• Maple Leafs 2, Panthers 1 (10:50 3rd): Mitch Marner one-times a feed from Auston Matthews and gets it past Sergei Bobrovsky.
• Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 1 (15:09 3rd): Matthew Knies gets in front of Niko Mikkola on a stretch pass and beats Bobrovsky on the breakaway.
• Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 2 (17:22 3rd PP): Reinhart picks the left corner from 25 feet out.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

• 1. Anthony Stolarz, Toronto
• 2. Mitch Marner, Toronto
• 3. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida

ON DECK: GAME No. 76

FLORIDA PANTHERS at OTTAWA SENATORS 

• When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
• Where: Canada Tire Center, Ottawa
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+; ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last Season: Panthers won 4-0
• This Season (Tied 1-1) — At Ottawa: Senators 3, Panthers 1 (Oct 10); Saturday. At Florida: Panthers 5, Senators 1 (Feb. 8).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Ottawa leads 58-49-5, 3 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Sunday at Detroit Red Wings, 5:30 p.m. (TNT/tru)