Forward scores at 15:27 for Florida, which had dropped 1st 2 games of East 2nd Round
Maple Leafs at Panthers | Recap | Round 2, Game 3
SUNRISE, Fla. — Brad Marchand scored at 15:27 of overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 5-4 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday.
Marchand took a short pass from Dmitry Kulikov above the right circle, skated over to the top of the left circle, and scored with a wrist shot that deflected in off Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly.
Florida now trails 2-1 in the best-of-7 series. Game 4 will be here on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TBS, SN, TVAS, CBC).
“It obviously felt good for the group,” Marchand said. “We had a good game — a better second half of the game because we didn’t start the way we would have liked. I love their resiliency. We battled back from a couple two-goal deficits and we just competed the way we know we can. But it’s all about doing it the next game. We know they’re going to come out hard.”
TOR@FLA, Gm3: Marchand lights the lamp in overtime
Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist, Aleksander Barkov scored, and Evan Rodrigues had two assists for the Panthers, who are the No. 3 seed from the Atlantic Division. Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves.
“At this time of year there are no easy games,” Reinhart said. “There is a fine line between winning and losing, and we have been riding that line this series. We’re staying composed. We’re comfortable in these situations.”
John Tavares scored twice, Matthew Knies had a goal and an assist, and Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander each had two assists for the Maple Leafs, who are the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic. Joseph Woll made 31 saves.
“We had a good first, I thought, and came out in the second and we just didn’t … [play] direct with what we needed to do,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “We got back to playing our game in the third, were pressuring them and getting pucks in behind them, going to work. We need to keep doing that.”
Knies gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead 23 seconds into the game, scoring into an open net in front after Matthews’ deflection of Marner’s point shot hit off the crossbar.
It was the fastest goal to start a playoff game in Toronto’s history since 1962.
TOR@FLA, Gm3: Knies buries opening goal 23 seconds in
Tavares made it 2-0 at 5:57. Skating in on a 3-on-2 rush, he took a pass from Max Pacioretty at the right post and skated around the net before stuffing a wraparound past the lunging glove of Bobrovsky.
Barkov cut it to 2-1 at 7:38. Following a turnover by the Maple Leafs in their own zone, Barkov took a short feed from Reinhart, cut toward the net and had his centering pass deflect in off the stick of Rielly.
Tavares responded with a power-play goal to push it to 3-1 at 2:52 of the second period. His redirection of Marner’s point shot deflected in off Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling.
“They are a good team and they pushed hard,” Tavares said. “We didn’t execute as well or play through the pressure as we have in the past. … We battled really hard in the third, got some pressure back and stayed on it. We earned the opportunity to win it in OT, just didn’t get the break today.”
Reinhart got the Panthers to within 3-2 at 4:13. He jammed a loose puck past the glove of Woll and Brandon Carlo, who was laying in the crease.
“Bounces are going to go both ways,” Reinhart said. “They got a couple early, and we got the last one. I liked the way we responded. There was no panic. There was one job to do, and that was to win and get back in this thing.”
Verhaeghe tied it 3-3 at 5:17. Sam Bennett skated in on a 2-on-1, waited out a sliding Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and sent a cross-slot pass to Verhaeghe for a tap-in.
Jonah Gadjovich gave Florida its first lead of the night, 4-3, at 15:07. Tomas Nosek skated the puck through the neutral zone, cut toward the middle, and had his shot deflect off Gadjovich’s leg before going under Woll’s blocker.
TOR@FLA, Gm3: Gadjovich tips it in for the lead
Gadjovich was playing in his first game since April 15, and Nosek was playing in his first game since April 14.
“We were all up, all positive,” Gadjovich said. “We were down 3-1, and if you would have told us we would go to OT, we would have taken that. We just reset and took on the challenge.”
Florida outshot Toronto 9-4 in the second period.
“The second period was the first block of time in this series that we looked to our identity,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
Rielly tied it 4-4 at 10:56 of the third period. His shot from the right boards was stopped by the blocker of Bobrovsky, but the rebound deflected into the net off the leg of Seth Jones.
“It was a close game. Both teams played hard, and we expected it to be competitive,” Rielly said. “We expected them to be desperate, and they were. They pushed back, and that’s the nature of things. They were a desperate team and we need to match that.”
NOTES: It was Marchand’s fourth career playoff overtime goal. Only Verhaeghe, Patrick Kane and Corey Perry (five each) have more among active players. … Marchand (36 years, 363 days) is also the oldest player in Panthers history to score a playoff overtime goal. … Tavares is the second Maple Leafs player in the past 20 years to have a multigoal playoff game at the age of 34 or older, joining Patrick Marleau (two in 2018). … Florida replaced its entire fourth line for Game 3, with Gadjovich, Nosek, and A.J. Greer replacing Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm, and Jesper Boqvist.

source