Panthers beat Maple Leafs to open anticipated 2nd round of NHL playoffs

Brandon Montour continued his torrid playoff stretch with a clutch third-period goal, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 of 34 shots, as the Florida Panthers outdueled the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of the second round, winning 4-2 to take an early series lead.

It was Montour’s sixth goal through eight playoff games that gave the Panthers a two-goal lead with less than 10 minutes to go in the final frame.

Florida’s other top guns, Matthew Tkachuk (three assists) and Aleksander Barkov (two assists), stepped up on Tuesday night, while former 2013 Maple Leafs draft pick Carter Verhaeghe added a key goal of his own.

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Verhaeghe beat Ilya Samsonov on a second-period breakaway that made it 3-2 after the Maple Leafs erased a two-goal deficit courtesy of rookie Matthew Knies’ first NHL goal and Michael Bunting, who tied it 2-2 with his first of the postseason.

Bobrovsky made several timely saves, denying Leafs skaters of golden opportunities, particularly in the final period. Samsonov made 24 of 28 saves on the night.

Ilya Samsonov: "Tomorrow sun is up, yeah?"

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 3, 2023

Toronto has struggled to perform on home ice during the playoffs, now with a 1-3 record at Scotiabank Arena, with 15 goals allowed dating back to Game 1 against Tampa Bay.

Conversely, the Panthers are currently 1-2 on their home ice, with four of their five playoff wins against the Leafs and Boston Bruins coming on the road.

Both teams were coming off impressive first-round series victories, most recently the Panthers, who eliminated the top-seeded Bruins in seven games after trailing 3-1 in the series. Toronto, meanwhile, knocked out the Lightning in six games following a thrilling overtime win on Saturday.

The Maple Leafs will try to even the series on Thursday night in Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena at 7 p.m. ET, live on Sportsnet.