The numbers behind the Florida Panthers’ Game 3 overtime win over the Maple Leafs
The Florida Panthers kept their hopes in their Stanley Cup playoffs second-round series alive when they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime on Friday in Game 3.
The win gets Florida to within 2-1 of the best-of-7 series after dropping the first two games.
A lot went into the Panthers’ win, so let’s break it down.
The Brad Marchand game-winner
We’ll start at the end.
Brad Marchand, the 16-season NHL veteran acquired from the Boston Bruins at the trade deadline in March, won the game with 4:33 left in overtime. His shot from just beyond the left circle deflected off Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly before fluttering past goaltender Joseph Woll and into the net.
With that comes a slew of notable feats...
▪ Marchand, who turns 37 on Sunday, became the oldest player in franchise playoff history with an overtime goal. The previous mark was set by Mike Hough, who was 33 years and 96 days old when he scored the overtime goal in Game 5 of the Panthers’ conference semifinal series against the Philadelphia Flyers in 1996.
▪ Marchand now has four career overtime goals in his playoff career, which trails only Patrick Kane, Corey Perry and current teammate Carter Verhaeghe (all with five) for the most among active players.
▪ Marchand’s 14 career playoff game-winning goals are the most among active players, breaking a tie he had with Ondrej Palat and Evgeni Malkin.
▪ Marchand now has 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists) in 31 career playoff games against Toronto. That is tied with Henri Richard for the third-most playoff points against the Maple Leafs in NHL history behind Gordie Howe (20 goals, 33 assists, 53 points in 55 games) and Alex Delvecchio (10 goals, 25 assists, 35 points in 41 games).
The comeback
The Panthers erased a pair of two-goal deficits — falling behind first 2-0 and then 3-1 — to secure the win.
The win was the 12th multi-goal comeback win to avoid facing a 3-0 series deficit in the last 40 years. Florida, interestingly enough, accounts for two of the last three (also Game 3 of their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021).
It was also Florida’s sixth multi-goal comeback win in franchise playoff history. The Panthers have had one such win each of the past five playoffs. (Game 4 of Round 2 against Boston in 2024, Game 2 of Round 2 against Toronto in 2023, Game 5 of Round 1 against Washington in 2022 R1, and Game 3 of Round 1 against Tampa Bay in 2021.
A potential series changer?
According to the NHL, the Panthers’ win on Friday made marked the seventh consecutive time a defending Stanley Cup champion won Game 3 of a series in which they were trailing 2-0 through the first two games.
The reigning champions came back to win three of the past six series after losing the first two games: Tampa Bay in the 2022 Conference Finals, Chicago in the 2014 First Round and Los Angeles in the 2013 Conference Quarterfinals.
Individual player notables
▪ Carter Verhaeghe assisted on Marchand’s goal for his seventh career overtime point in the postseason. That ties Sidney Crosby and Anze Kopitar for the second most among active players, behind only Kane (8).
▪ Sam Reinhart, with a goal an an assist, logged his third multi-point game of the 2025 playoffs and seventh of his career. He has posted five points (two goals, three assists) over his past five games.
▪ Jonah Gadjovich scored a goal in his NHL playoff debut. He is the third skater in franchise history to score in his playoff debut, joining Owen Tippett in 2021 and Peter Worrell in 2000.
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