Stanley Cup playoffs live updates: Florida Panthers vs Toronto Maple Leafs, Game 5
The best-of-7 series is essentially a best-of-3 series now.
The Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs are tied 2-2 through four games of their Stanley Cup playoffs second-round series. Whoever wins two over the next three games advances to the Eastern Conference final to face either the Carolina Hurricanes or Washington Capitals.
Game 5 is at 7 p.m. Wednesday from Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.
Follow along throughout the game for live updates, news, analysis and commentary.
One win away
The Panthers routed the Maple Leafs 6-1 to take their first lead in the series.
Florida can close it out at home on Friday.
The blowout continues
It’s now 5-0 Panthers over the Maple Leafs after an A.J. Greer goal 6:22 into the third period.
This is ... a rout.
Panthers pulling away
It’s 4-0 Panthers now with six minutes left in the second period after Niko Mikkola’s blast from just above the left circle beat Joseph Woll.
The Panthers now have 16 players with a goal this postseason. They also have 10 goals by defensemen — including three tonight.
Tonight is the 2nd time in Panthers history with 3 defensemen score a goal in the same playoff game.
Ekblad, Kulikov, Mikkola tonight.
Brian Campbell, Jason Garrison, Mike Weaver on April 17, 2012 vs New Jersey.
The NHL record is 4 defensemen, done 4 times but not since 1992
Panthers pulling away?
It’s now 3-0 Panthers midway through the second period after Jesper Boqvist scored short side off a pass from Sam Reinhart.
Boqvist has two points already tonight and has looked stellar on Florida’s top line with Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov.
Panthers double their lead
2-0 Panthers over the Maple Leafs. Dmitry Kulikov shot from the point bounced off a Maple Leafs player’s stick and into the net.
13:52 left in the second.
Kulikov is the 14th Panthers player with a goal this postseason.
Florida also has eight total goals from defensemen this playoffs — including both goals tonight.
Florida holds the lead through one
Florida still holds a 1-0 lead as the first period comes to an end.
The Panthers mostly dominated the period, with a 14-5 edge in shots on goal, 33-10 advantage in shot attempts and 17-4 lead in scoring chances.
The top line has been stellar, holding the Maple Leafs to just one shot attempt and having a 5-0 lead in shots on goal.
Florida is on the penalty kill for another 17 seconds to start the second period, with Anton Lundell in the box for tripping.
Panthers strike first
1-0 Florida Panthers. Aaron Ekblad from Sam Reinhart. Florida had a lot of action in front of the Leafs net that shift and finally capitalized.
5:22 left in the first.
An early big save by Bobrovsky
After the Panthers turned the puck over at the blue line midway through the first period, Toronto’s William Nylander had a clear breakaway.
Sergei Bobrovsky denied him.
Still 0-0.
Not much action at the net early
At the first TV timeout (6:58 into regulation), there have been two total shots on goal — by Florida’s Nate Schmidt and Toronto’s Max Domi.
Eight total shots have been blocked through less than seven minutes.
Maple Leafs lines
Here’s how Toronto lines and pairs looked in warmups
Forward lines
Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty - John Tavares - William Nylander
Bobby McMann - Max Domi - Nick Robertson
Scott Laughton - David Kampf - Steven Lorentz
Defense pairs
Jake McCabe - Chris Tanev
Morgan Rielly - Brandon Carlo
Simon Benoit - Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Panthers warmup lines
The Panthers’ lines and pairings in pregame warmups were the same as morning skate...
Forward lines
Jesper Boqvist-Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer-Tomas Nosek-Jonah Gadjovich
Defense pairs
Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola-Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt-Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
A couple lineup changes for Toronto
It appears forwards Nick Robertson and David Kampf are replacing Pontus Holmberg and Calle Jarnkrok in the Maple Leafs lineup for Game 5.
Toronto coach Craig Berube said after the team’s morning skate that he would have some “game-time decisions” to make and that those decisions would be coach decisions — not injury related.
Meanwhile, Anthony Stolarz remains out. Joseph Woll remains the Maple Leafs’ starting goaltender, with Matt Murray backing up.
Series schedule
▪ Game 1 — Maple Leafs 5, Panthers 4: The Panthers nearly rallied from a three-goal deficit, getting to within one goal twice in the third, but ultimately couldn’t overcome their slow start in a series-opening loss. William Nylander scored twice for Toronto.
▪ Game 2 — Maple Leafs 4, Panthers 3: Florida blew a pair of two-goal leads and then fell behind for good 17 seconds after tying the game early in the third period to fall into an 0-2 hole in the series.
▪ Game 3 — Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 4 (OT): Brad Marchand scored with 4:33 left in overtime to give Florida its first win in the series. The Panthers overcame a pair of two-goal deficits by scoring three times in an 11-minute span in the second period.
▪ Game 4 — Panthers 2, Maple Leafs 0: Sergei Bobrovsky posted his second shutout of the postseason and Florida got goals from Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett to even up the series.
▪ Game 5: Tonight
▪ Game 6: Friday, May 16, TBD time, TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, May 18, TBD time, TNT, Max, Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena
Pregame reading
Need to catch up ahead of Game 5? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald’s coverage over the past few days.
▪ Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky always tries to ‘stay in the moment.’ It’s why he thrives
▪ Evan Rodrigues is out for Game 5. Here’s how the Panthers are replacing him
▪ Watching Gustav Forsling play is ‘a real treat’ for his fellow Florida Panthers teammates
▪ The Panthers are finally playing to their identity and are back in series with Toronto
▪ A clutch Panthers performance in the playoffs? Carter Verhaeghe strikes again
▪ NHL suspends Panthers exec for ‘unacceptable and inappropriate’ social media posts
This story was originally published May 14, 2025 at 6:00 PM.
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