The Florida Panthers snapped a rough stretch with a dominant 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, powered by a balanced scoring attack and stellar goaltending. Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each netted power-play goals, while Sam Reinhart contributed a short-handed tally. Rookie Mackie Samoskevich and Sam Bennett, with an empty-netter, rounded out the scoring for Florida.
Sergei Bobrovsky was sharp in net, turning aside 24 shots to secure just the Panthers’ second win in their last eight outings. Verhaeghe also chipped in with two assists, continuing his strong form.
Toronto’s Mitch Marner scored the lone goal for the Maple Leafs, who had won seven of their previous eight games before Wednesday. Despite the setback, they remain atop the Atlantic Division, though their lead over Florida has now shrunk to a single point. Anthony Stolarz, who was part of the Panthers’ Stanley Cup-winning squad last season, stopped 19 shots in his return to Sunrise.
Toronto also faced adversity with forward Bobby McMann leaving the game in the second period due to a lower-body injury. His status for upcoming games remains uncertain.
Before the game, Stolarz, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and forward Steven Lorentz received their Stanley Cup championship rings in a morning ceremony to honor their contributions to Florida’s historic playoff run.
Florida played without forward Anton Lundell, who was injured Monday after being struck in the face by a deflected puck. Although he participated in the morning skate, he was held out of Wednesday’s lineup.
Samoskevich’s goal, scored just 50 seconds after Barkov opened the scoring, gave Florida a 2-0 lead and set the tone for the night. The Panthers remain undefeated (4-0-0) when the promising rookie finds the back of the net.
Sam Reinhart’s short-handed goal was his fourth of the season, matching the entire short-handed output of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Only two teams, Florida and Columbus, have scored as many short-handed goals this season, while 20 NHL teams have managed one or fewer.
The Maple Leafs will look to rebound on Saturday when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning. Meanwhile, the Panthers kick off a back-to-back series against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, with the rematch set for Saturday in Sunrise.
