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Brad Marchand scored in overtime as the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in Game 3.
The Maple Leafs still lead the series 2-1, but the defending champion Panthers can breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing that they avoided falling into a 3-0 hole.
Toronto jumped out to a 3-1 lead tonight but three straight Florida goals in the second period from Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Jonah Gadjovich flipped the contest on its head.
Game 4 is set for Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. ET in Florida.
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Maple Leafs drop Game 3 in OT as Panthers cut Toronto’s series lead to 2-1: Takeaways
Now nine games into the playoffs, the list of Leafs who have not made meaningful offensive contributions is adding up. Bobby McMann and Calle Järnkrok each have zero goals and just one assist, while Scott Laughton has just two assists.
And Auston Matthews is now the playoffs leader in missed shots. He has one goal since Game 3 against the Senators.
Now, the Leafs didn’t necessarily lose because the aforementioned players didn’t score in Game 3. But the playoff games are starting to add up. Getting more depth and balance could give the Leafs a boost in this series, now that the Panthers are pushing back.
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It’s no stretch to call the second period the most important the Panthers have played all season.
Trailing 3-1 in the game after John Tavares’s goal, and already down 2-0 in the series, they mounted a massive pushback. Shot attempts at five-on-five were 20-6 in Florida’s favor and they pumped home three unanswered goals as a result.
Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe struck 64 seconds apart, tying the score 3-3, and signaling that Florida wouldn’t go away easily.
Prior to the game, Paul Maurice spoke of the importance of managing the massive in-game swings that tend to occur during playoffs. He felt that was even more critical than thinking about where they sat in the series overall.
“The game still has to be played, and it has to be played intelligently and at a high level,” he said. “As pressure mounts, whether the team’s trying to close out or trying to claw back, you just want to make sure that you’re not trying to hit a home run every time you touch the puck.”
The middle frame set Florida down the path to the overtime heroics that followed.
Credit Panthers coach Paul Maurice for stemming some early momentum against his team by using the last line change to shift the matchups.
With Aleksander Barkov’s top line having a difficult time against Auston Matthews and Co. during the first period, Maurice turned that assignment over to the Brad Marchand-Anton Lundell-Eetu Luostarinen trio. It worked. Not only did Lundell’s line start tilting that tough matchup in Florida’s favor, but it gave Barkov a lighter lift.
On paper, the Marchand-Lundell-Luostarinen trio gets recorded as Florida’s third line. But the way they’ve played in this series warrants a placing higher than that.
“It’s been fun to watch,” said Maurice. “They’ve been good from the minute they got together.”
The hope was that Marchand could bring a little more offense out of two younger defensive-minded teammates.
“This guy’s the perfect complement,” said Maurice. “Brad’s not a point producer from cheating the game, from ‘hey we can make 10 more plays,’ he’s got a really healthy respect of the game and these two guys have just flourished with that.”
Maurice also pushed some buttons by swapping out his entire fourth line from Game 2. The A.J. Greer-Tomas Nosek-Jonah Gadjovich trio brought plenty of life, not to mention more than their fair share of offensive zone time, and got a huge go-ahead goal from Gadjovich late in the second period.
OK, let’s find some reason for optimism for the Leafs after the loss: Matthew Knies’ goal just 23 seconds after puck drop was the fastest from the start of a playoff game in more than 62 years. It was the fourth-fastest playoff goal in Leafs history. When you score a goal that puts you in the conversation with names such as Sid Smith and Bob Pulford, you know you’re doing something special.
A little over five minutes later, the Leafs again pounced on a sluggish Panthers side when John Tavares stuffed a wraparound goal past Sergei Bobrovsky. That was the 11th goal the Leafs had scored on the Panthers’ goalie in seven periods. And it left the Amerant Bank Arena crowd deflated, at least for a while. After the Panthers went down 0-2 in the series, the safe money would have been on them storming out of the gates. Instead, the Leafs had one of their best starts in recent memory.
Remember the days of this Leafs team struggling with starts? We’re constantly looking for ways that this 2025 version of the team is different. Their ability to put their stamp on the game almost immediately is indeed a difference. Yes, it was a hot start that was eventually wasted. But it’s something the Leafs can build on, and it’s a difference Craig Berube and Co. should be proud of.
The Joseph Woll who locked things down against the Panthers in the 2023 playoffs and against the Bruins last year — entering in relief in both cases — has not yet appeared through these playoffs.
Yes, Morgan Rielly knocked a goal into his own net. And yes, the Leafs as a whole allowed the Panthers back into the game in the second period. An 11-minute stretch in that period crushed the Leafs’ chances.
But for the third game in a row, Woll gave up at least three goals. Not only did Woll not look sharp with his positioning or his puck play, but he also gave up the kind of goals that ended up being backbreakers for the Leafs. Woll ended up giving up five goals on 37 shots.
You could make a case that he should have found a way to keep the puck out of his net on the Panthers’ second goal. A scramble in front of him didn’t go his way.
But fourth liner Jonah Gadjovich’s shot from outside the faceoff circle? Woll should have made a blocker save on what was the Panthers’ fourth goal. Yes, he’s only made three appearances in the playoffs. And that comes after not playing for 20 days once Anthony Stolarz took over starting duties in the playoffs. Nevertheless, Woll simply hasn’t shown shades of his ability to steal a game for the Leafs like he did in 2023 and 2024. If this series goes the distance, the Leafs could use more of that version of Woll.
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Florida-Leafs is good theater. The Leafs look faster and may have more energy. But I'm still not sure I would bet against Florida. The Panthers have a way about them. Gotta think Bob heats up at some point. I bet the winner of Game 4 wins the series.
At 36 years and 363 days, Brad Marchand has become the oldest player in Panthers playoff history with an overtime goal, besting the previous mark set by Mike Hough (33 years, 96 days in Game 5 of 1996 conference semifinal).
This is Marchand's fourth career playoff OT goal. Only three active players have more: Patrick Kane, Corey Perry and Marchand's teammate Carter Verhaeghe (all with five).
One curiosity tonight was why Dennis Hildeby was serving as Joseph Woll's backup after Matt Murray was backup to Woll in Game 2. Well, now we have an answer: Murray was sick.
Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said he thought his team was "hemmed in" and "turned the puck over" a lot in the second period, allowing Florida to come back. He believes the team needs to be "more direct" and play a full 60 minutes.
On Brad Marchand, the OT hero, Berube praised his game, saying, "He adds creativity to the line."
A lot has happened since Sam Reinhart's goal in the second period, but it's worth revisiting. After a replay review, the referees determined the puck crossed the goal line and awarded the goal, cutting the Panthers' deficit to 3-2.
But should Toronto have challenged the play for goaltender interference? Joseph Woll and Brandon Carlo both tried to keep the puck from crossing the line, but the mass of bodies and sticks eventually forced the puck over. If a challenge determined that Florida players pushed through Woll to get the puck forward, the goal would have been negated.
Alas, we'll never know what a challenge would have yielded. Instead, the Panthers scored again just 64 seconds later through Carter Verhaeghe, and the Leafs' lead was gone for good.
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John Tavares praised his team's ability to battle and get an opportunity to win in overtime but they didn't get the break. He said to keep playing, keep pushing and respond. Tavares knows that the team can be better.
"We didn't play through the pressure as well," Tavares said when letting a lead slip away.
The Panthers achieved a rare feat by overcoming a multi-goal deficit to avoid falling into a 3-0 series deficit. They're only the 11th team to accomplish that unique achievement, and the first to do so since the Lightning against the Rangers in the 2022 conference finals.
Joseph Woll said he felt good about his game tonight in Game 3 but they just came out on the wrong side.
"The difference is a bounce one way," Woll said.
On how he resets for Game 4: "Shake it off. Bounces go both ways, It's hockey. You reset."
Morgan Rielly called tonight's Game 3 a "close game." He expected the Florida Panthers to be the desperate team down 2-0. He sees the physicality and the bounces leading to goals to continue throughout the series.
With positive things to take going forward, Rielly is optimistic to be up 2-1.
"We're happy to be up in the series," Rielly said.
Sam Reinhart called tonight's win for the Florida Panthers "gutsy."
"Certainly not the start we wanted," Reinhart said after the game. "Bounces are going to happen. They create a lot around the net. We were able to stick with it."
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Below is video of Brad Marchand's OT winner in Game 3 to get back in the series.
It's clear that the John Tavares line was out a bit too long there. Brad Marchand takes advantage with the OT winner.

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