Panthers work overtime to beat the Maple Leafs for a team-record 13th consecutive victory
Brandon Montour scored with 2:34 remaining in overtime on Saturday night as the Florida Panthers broke a franchise record with their 13th consecutive win, a 3-2 victory over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.
Florida leads the NHL with 120 points, and the Panthers are in position to win the Presidents’ Cup if they remain on top through four more games. The Colorado Avalanche is second with 116 points.
Mason Marchment had the primary assist on the winning goal, flipping a pass so perfectly that all Montour had to do was tap it in between the pads of Toronto goalie Jack Campbell, who missed a poke check.
“That was my first career overtime goal,” Montour said. “In a 3-on-3 [overtime], anything can happen.”
It was Marchment’s second primary assist of the game. He had an even more spectacular assist in the second period, speeding past Toronto’s defense and then setting up Aleksander Barkov for his team-high 39th goal of the season.
“I saw it was a forward back so I tried to take him on 1-on-1,” said Marchment, who then beat a second defender before dishing.
The Panthers also got a power-play goal from Claude Giroux, and 34 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky (39-6-3). Bobrovsky hasn’t lost since Feb. 26, earning 13 wins in a row.
Panthers star Jonathan Huberdeau, who is trying to chase down Edmonton’s Connor McDavid for the NHL scoring lead, produced one assist.
Huberdeau leads the NHL with 84 assists and ranks second in points with 114. McDavid has 116 points.
Huberdeau said he doesn’t monitor the scoring race, but …
“My brother texts me all the time,” Huberdeau said. “He says, ‘McDavid got another one.’
“I tell him, ‘You can stop texting me. That’s fine.’”
Barkov had one goal and also an assist as Florida rallied from an early 2-0 deficit.
In addition, Barkov made the best defensive play of overtime, chasing down Toronto’s Mitchell Marner on a great back check.
The first two periods were evenly divided as the Leafs scored twice in the first, and Florida tallied twice in the second.
Toronto opened the scoring — but only after a shot by Florida’s MacKenzie Weegar clanged off the far post.
Then, just 74 seconds later, the Leafs made it 1-0 when defenseman TJ Brodie angled a long pass from beyond the blue line, bouncing off the back boards and in stride to Marner, who scored from the right circle. The puck went just under Bobrovsky’s right arm.
The Leafs got a bit lucky on their second goal as Justin Holl’s pass toward the net was broken up before landing in the net. Holl was credited with the goal, which in actuality bounced off the stick and then the skate of Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas.
Florida cut its deficit to 2-1 on perhaps its prettiest play of the night. Marchment skated past those two Leafs defenders before shoveling a pass back toward Barkov, who quickly scored.
Then, with 14:45 gone in the second, Brodie was penalized for hooking Huberdeau. Just nine seconds later, the Panthers tied it 2-2 on Giroux’s blast from beyond the right circle that went past four players – two from each team – who impeded Campbell’s vision. Huberdeau and Barkov earned assists.
That set it up for the overtime goal and a victory that Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said will help prepare his squad for the postseason.
“It felt like a playoff game,” Brunette said. “It was a tight-checking game. It was fast paced.
“[Toronto] played harder than we did. But it speaks to the grit and resilience of our group and the desire to be great.”
This story was originally published April 23, 2022 at 10:53 PM.