Global Courant 2023-05-11 07:45:54
Joseph Woll stopped 24 shots in his first playoff start, Mitch Marner and William Nylander had the goals, and the Toronto Maple Leafs avoided elimination by beating the Florida Panthers 2-1 in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Wednesday night.
Nylander took advantage of a strange bounce for a power play score in the second period, Marner scored midway through the third and Woll did the rest as he took the place of injured starter Ilya Samsonov.
Sam Reinhart scored for Florida, who got 23 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. The Panthers still lead the series 3-1, with Game 5 in Toronto on Friday night.
Woll, who turns 25 on July 12, made a bid to become Toronto’s youngest goaltender to have a playoff shutout since Felix Potvin – then 23 – stopped 42 shots to beat Chicago 3-0 on May 9, 1995.
He was 7:47 away from finishing.
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Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his third-period goal off the bench against the Florida Panthers in Game Four of the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the FLA Live Arena on May 10, 2023 in Sunrise, Florida. (Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
Reinhart – who had the OT winner in Game 3 – took a quick pass from Matthew Tkachuk and found a way to just get the puck through Woll’s leg pads for a power play score, cutting Toronto’s lead to 2- 1.
Nylander’s surname is pronounced KNEE-lander, which seemed fitting for the opening goal.
Toronto went over five full periods — 107 minutes and 46 seconds to be exact, going back late into the second period of Game 2 — without a power play until Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen was called for high-sticking the Leafs’ Michael Bunting early in the second period.
And they cashed in, thanks to the hockey gods overseeing crazy bounces.
Teammates congratulate Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs for scoring a goal in the third period against the Florida Panthers in Game Four of the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the FLA Live Arena on May 10, 2023 in Sunrise, florida . (Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
HURRICANES SCORE 4 OBJECTIVES IN 5:20 SPAN TO TAKE THE COMMANDING SERIES IN LEAD OF DEVILS
Bunting tried to dump the puck around the net from the right wing, but it bounced off umpire Jon McIsaac’s knee as he tried to get out of the way. It jumped to the front of the net, where Nylander smashed it past Bobrovsky for a 1-0 Toronto lead.
It was the first goal of the series for Toronto’s big four Nylander, Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Marner.
The score remained 1-0 going into the third, though Toronto had a great chance to go up by two in the closing seconds of the second period. Tavares got loose in the middle of the ice on a breakaway, but Bobrovsky beat off his attempt to the stick side to keep Florida within one.
Marner made it 2-0 with 9:57 left, and the Leafs held on. They haven’t been swept in a playoff series since 1980—a best-of-five against the Minnesota North Stars—and not in a best-of-seven since Montreal ousted them in four games in 1979.
Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate their 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game Four of the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the FLA Live Arena on May 10, 2023 in Sunrise, Florida. (Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)
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STILL NO SECURITY
Florida has never swept a playoff series. The Panthers have also not had a series on home ice since 1996.
AROUND THE ICE
It was Woll’s 12th career start (first in a playoff game) and Bobrovsky’s 680th (54th in a playoff game). … With Samsonov injured, the Maple Leafs recalled G Dennis Hildeby from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies to be the team’s backup goaltender. Matt Murray supported Woll.
