The Maple Leafs pushed back and had a couple of terrific chances on a pair of man advantages, but couldn’t solve Bobrovsky.

The Maple Leafs finished the post-season 1-5 at home.įlorida went up 1-0 on a power play at 3:31 of the opening period when Ekblad blasted a one-timer for his first on a shot that handcuffed Woll after the goalie made a flurry of early stops. Toronto’s high-powered offense – including the so-called “Core Four” of Matthews, Nylander, Marner and John Tavares – scored just three times in the series for a team that totaled just 14 goals over its final seven playoff games, including a paltry 10 against the Panthers. Nylander and Auston Matthews both have one year remaining on their contracts and can sign extensions as of July 1, while fellow star forward Mitch Marner’s no-movement clause kicks in the same day. General manager Kyle Dubas doesn’t have a contract beyond June 30, while there have also been rumblings about the future of coach Sheldon Keefe. The Maple Leafs now face an uncertain offseason despite its breakthrough against the Lightning. Woll was coming off a 24-save effort in a Game 4 win that avoided the sweep. The Panthers will next face the Carolina Hurricanes, who also beat the New Jersey Devils in five games.

In the extra period, Cousins buried his second goal of the playoffs off the rush short-side on Woll to send the Panthers to the conference finals for the first time since 1996.įlorida – the team with the fewest points to qualify for the postseason – won all three games in Toronto and improved to 6-1 on the road in the playoffs after also upsetting the record-setting Boston Bruins. Rookie goalie Joseph Woll had 41 saves in his first home playoff start. Morgan Rielly and William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs, who had advanced in the playoffs for the first time in 19 years when they beat Tampa Bay in the first round.

TORONTO - Nick Cousins scored at 15:32 of overtime and Sergei Bobrovsky made 50 saves as the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series on Friday to advance to the Eastern Conference final.Īaron Ekblad and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist to help the Panthers build a 2-0 lead in the first period.

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