Brad Marchand scored 15:27 into overtime as the Florida Panthers defeated the Maple Leafs 5-4 on Friday night in Sunrise, Fla., slicing Toronto’s lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series to 2-1.
Marchand produced his fourth career overtime playoff goal when his shot bounced in off the body of Toronto’s Morgan Rielly. That number is tied for the fourth most among active players, trailing only Corey Perry, Patrick Kane and teammate Carter Verhaeghe (five apiece).
Teammate Sam Reinhart said of Marchand, “He’s tenacious. Players like that shine at this time of the year.”
Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is set for Sunday night in Sunrise.
Reinhart and Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist and Aleksander Barkov and Jonah Gadjovich also scored for the Panthers, who are the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
Evan Rodrigues added two assists from the Panthers, who got 27 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.
John Tavares scored twice, Matthew Knies logged a goal and an assist and Rielly also tallied for the Leafs, who blew a 3-1 second-period lead. Toronto’s Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander each had two assists, and Joseph Woll stopped 31 shots.
Florida scored two of its goals — including the game-winner — off either Rielly’s body or stick.
“That’s how pucks are going in right now,” Rielly said, “and it’s not just in this series.”
Toronto scored just 23 seconds into the game. Marner’s shot clanged off the crossbar, and Knies spun away from Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad before hitting the open left side of the net.
The Leafs made it 2-0 on Tavares’ wraparound goal with 14:03 left in the first.
Florida got on the board on an own goal with 12:22 remaining in the first. Reinhart dished to Barkov, who made a move and lost his edge as he drove to the net. The puck then tipped in off the stick of Rielly.
Toronto got its power play going with 17:08 left in the second. Marner’s shot found Tavares’ stick, and that deflection bounced in off the body of Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling.
However, the Panthers scored two goals in the next three minutes, tying the score 3-3.
First, Reinhart scored on a scramble in front at 4:13 despite the efforts of Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo, who had half a stick and still tried to keep the puck from trickling past the line.
Then, Matthew Tkachuk jarred the puck loose on a forecheck. Sam Bennett threaded a backward pass between sliding defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Woll. Verhaeghe had the easy job, tapping the puck into the open net at 5:17.
Gadjovich, off the rush, then gave Florida a 4-3 lead with a tip-in shot at 15:07 of the second.
Toronto tied the score 4-4 with 9:04 left in the third. Rielly’s shot from the right wing was stopped by Bobrovsky, but the puck bounced in off the right leg of Panthers defenseman Seth Jones.
–Field Level Media
