Cote: Florida Panthers, Bobrovsky blank Toronto, even series, remind Maple Leafs who’s champ | Opinion
Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice in his deadpan manner had joked entering Sunday’s home playoff Game 4 that the key to his team beating the Toronto Maple Leafs might be, “Try not to let ‘em score as much.”
Well, maybe he wasn’t joking.
His Panthers took the suggestion to heart, won the game, 2-0, and tied this NHL second round series, 2-2.
Florida and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky had allowed 13 goals the first three games of the series while the Cats had pelted 11 goals into the Maple Leafs’ net.
Sunday, the goalies must have promised their moms better performances for Mother’s Day.
Welcome back, ‘Playoff Bob.’
“It’s a series,” said Bobrovsky afterward. “The bigger games are ahead, so we’re excited about them. The series comes down to a best-of-three, so it’s a big game, the next one.”
Bobrovsky stopped all 23 opposing shots for the shutout. The Leafs’ Joseph Woll had 35 saves on a night the Cats might otherwise have cashed four or five goals.
The game’s first goal/winning goal came in the first period on Carter Verhaeghe’s snap-shot close in off a bullet pass from Matthew Tkachuk in the 16th minute. Woll had no chance. It happened nine seconds into the man advantage on what was the Panthers’ fourth power play of the opening period.
“Through nine [playoff] games Carter has been our most consistent forward,” said Maurice. “He plays a very hard, very fast game and sometimes he needs the game like that to excel.”
The lead was earned as much as gifted by Leafs-in-the-box, though, as Florida led 15-4 in first-period shots, with only Woll’s play keeping the Cats’ lead minimal.
The insurance goal came with 7:50 left in the third period on a breakaway goal from Sam Bennett, who zigged to Woll’s right for the put in.
Bobrovsky was brilliant all night, as was the defensive wall in front of him. This was the tough, D-first mindset Maurice installed and instilled three years ago, the kind meant for playoff hockey.
“I think we just totally take him for granted, which is true of all elite goaltenders,” said Maurice.
“Such a leader,” said Verhaeghe. “Keeps us so composed.”
The Panthers looked liked themselves Sunday night. Looked like what Maurice wants to see from the bench.
“That was more like the type of Panthers playoff hockey we’re used to,” said Gustav Forsling, the defenseman supreme who foiled a Leafs breakaway that might have tied it 1-1.
Florida’s dramatic Game 3 victory in overtime on Friday seemed a season-saver as it prevented the team from going down 0-3 in the series, an historic death knell in NHL playoff history.
But Game 4 was nearly as much a must-win, realistically if not literally.
A loss for a 1-3 series hole would have seen Florida’s shot to win the series tumble to 9.1 percent, based on league history. Teams bearing that deficit have won the series only 32 times in 352 such all-time situations.
Teams at 2-2 after a home win take the series 43.2 percent of the time, reflecting the home-ice edge still belonging to the Maple Leafs, with Game 5 in Toronto Wednesday, Game 6 back in Sunrise Friday and Game 7, if necessary, in Toronto on Sunday.
“We’re going to Toronto with some confidence,” said Verhaeghe.
Maurice: “Both teams flip-flopped pressure in the first four games. Pressure was all on us in Game 3. Now I think its just flat [even pressure] and it’s all energy. No pressure coming into this now, it’s all en energy.”
This series was due for a defensive takeover.
“Numbers are high for both teams in this series,” said Maurice of the first three games.
Said Tkachuk: “It’s deflections and screens. That’s playoff hockey. You wanna throw as much as you can at the net.”
Which team would score the series’ first defensive gem of a game?
The Panthers answered on Sunday as the holiday crowd roared.
Florida had its forecheck percolating to create a ton of scoring chances and also neutralized what had been the Leafs’ advantage controlling center ice, but Woll rose to the challenge.
The series continued physical.
Leafs fans blamed Bennett for the Game 1 elbow hit to the head that knocked goaltender Joseph Stolarz from the game and series to this point.
Sunday, Toronto’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson drew a penalty for a blindside high hit that knocked Evan Rodrigues face-down onto the ice and out of the game, initially a five-minute major that was reduced to a minor on review but should not have been. Rodrigues was neither ruled out nor cleared to play in Game 5 as of Monday afternoon.
There was a small brawl as time expired Sunday on a dirty hit by Toronto’s Max Domi against Aleksander Barkov as winning rats pelted the ice. “I think he’ll be alright,” said Maurice of his captain. Domi in a gutless display shoved Barkov from behind into the boards. He was fined $5,000 by the league; should have been suspended a game.
Maurice took a minute to reflect on Monday how South Florida had arrived as a fully grown hockey market -- a metamorphosis that he and general manager Bill Zito made happen just a few years ago.
“Remember the early days at the Miami Arena, was that what it was called?” he said. “Remember the ice in that place? NHL game played in a sauna. Nobody knew we played. It’s changed now. It’s a thriving market.”
Maurice lives near the Sunrise arena and walks home after most games. Sunday night he ran into this family with two young kids.
“Both play hockey. That’s how it starts,” he said. “These kids grow up in that. I think that’s here. It feels like it’s here.”
The home team has won all four games in this series. The Panthers must find a way to win one at least one in Toronto to advance to the East finals and keep repeat-title hopes alive.
Hence the series’ mathematical/historical edge still belongs to Toronto.
Except the other team has the momentum off consecutive wins now ... and something else.
The Florida Panthers are the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
And if the Maple Leafs had forgotten, they’ve been reminded the last two games.
This story was originally published May 11, 2025 at 10:26 PM.
