Panthers snap five-game losing streak with win over Maple Leafs to start homestand
The Florida Panthers’ losing streak is over.
Eetu Luostarinen scored the go-ahead goal 1:04 into the third period and the Panthers never looked back in a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena in a game that could serve as a preview for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Florida, which had lost five consecutive games entering Tuesday, improves to 45-29-4. Toronto saw its four-game win streak snapped and falls to 47-26-4.
The Panthers went 3-1-0 in the regular-season series against Toronto, also winning 5-1 on Nov. 27 and 3-2 on March 13 before falling 3-2 on April 2.
“We needed to win a game,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said, “because we’ve played pretty, pretty well here at this stretch and haven’t had much go our way. ... We played a pretty smart game. I thought we were fairly true to our identity. It wasn’t a particularly heavy game, but I thought we did what we need to do to win.”
Luostarinen scored the game-winner, his ninth goal of the season and the 50th of his career, on a backhanded shot from close range that snuck past Toronto goaltender Joseph Wall.
Defenseman Gustav Forsling also scored for Florida on a wrist shot from the point off an Anton Lundell face-off win 9:26 into regulation. Carter Verhaeghe capped scoring with an empty-net goal with 47 seconds left — snapping a season-long 13-game stretch without a goal.
“We don’t like losing, so obviously it’s a great feeling getting this win,” Forsling said. “But I think we’ve been playing good lately; we just haven’t gotten the results we wanted.”
John Tavares scored for Toronto 1:06 into the second period, but Sergei Bobrovsky stopped the other 17 shots he faced from the Maple Leafs to secure the win.
Florida continues its four-game homestand Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings. After that, it’s the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday and New York Rangers on Monday before the Panthers end the regular season April 15 at the Lightning.
Tracking the Atlantic Division
With Florida beating Toronto and the Ottawa Senators falling to Columbus on Tuesday, the Atlantic Division standings are now as follows...
1) Toronto: 47-26-4, 98 points, 5 games left
2) Tampa Bay: 45-26-6, 96 points, 5 games left
3) Florida: 45-29-4, 94 points, 4 games left
4) Ottawa: 42-30-6, 90 points, 4 games left
Toronto plays at Tampa Bay on Wednesday. A Lightning win in regulation would leap Tampa Bay over the Maple Leafs for the top spot in the division because they would be tied in points and the Lightning would hold the tiebreaker with more regulation wins.
This story was originally published April 8, 2025 at 9:28 PM.
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