The Florida Panthers traveled to Toronto to face the red-hot Maple Leafs. On the second night of a back to back, the Panthers fought hard but fell to the Leafs 5-2 after Toronto surged in the third period.
The Florida Panthers now sit at a record of 44-15-6 and still lead the Atlantic Division by three games (six points). After the win, the Leafs now hold a record of 41-18-6, tied with the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic division. Both teams trail the Tampa Bay Lightning by one point.
Recap
In the first period, Morgan Rielly tallied the first goal of the game not even one minute into the contest. Later in the frame, Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour scored with the assists going to Sam Bennett and Jonathan Huberdeau.
In the second period, the Panthers took a brief two-to-one lead on the goal by Ryan Lomberg. Unfortunately, the Panthers fell apart after that goal as Leafs Center John Tavares scored back to back goals to give the Leafs a huge 3-2 lead at the second intermission.
In the third frame, the Leafs tacked on two more goals by Mikheyev and Matthews to secure the 5-2 win. Panthers goalie Spencer Knight stopped 19 of 23 shots while Leafs goalie Peter Mrazek was spectacular, allowing only two goals on 35 shots.
A bright spot for the Panthers was defenseman Radko Gudas, who laid out 10 hits in a very physical game.
These two hockey clubs could potentially meet in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs so stay tuned for those updates.
Next Up
The Florida Panthers will be traveling to Montreal to take on the Canadiens on Tuesday, March 29th. Florida looks to have a bounce back game and finish up the road trip strong before heading home.