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The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers have pulled even with the Toronto Maple Leafs in their Eastern Conference playoff series after a 2-0 win in Game 4.
The Panthers jumped on top in the first period on a power-play goal by Carter Verhaeghe. They added to their lead in the third quarter on a goal by Sam Bennett.
The Panthers' defense did the rest. Game 5 is Wednesday in Toronto (7 p.m., ET).
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Game 5 p.m. will be played at 7 p.m. ET in Toronto.
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Sam Reinhart led the Florida attack with seven shots on goal. Aleksander Barkov was second with five, while Anton Lundell and Sam Bennett added four. The Panthers finished with 37 shots.
Sergei Bobrovsky had 23 saves, stopping all 23 shots he faced, in pulling out the Game 4 shutout.
Joseph Woll kept the Maple Leafs in the game and gave them a shot, but they just didn't get anything done offensively. Woll faced 37 shots and had 35 saves.
Total penalties:
Toronto 6
Florida 3
Penalty minutes:
Toronto 12
Florida 6
Blocked shots:
Toronto 17
Florida 12
Takeaways:
Toronto 3
Florida 8
Giveaways:
Toronto 12
Florida 13
Leafs' worst game of the playoffs. Worst game in a long while.
Will need way better to win two of next three.
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Za K: on the plus side, playoff Woll is back. If he can maintain that level Leafs have got a chance. If Matthews comes around, they’ve got a good chance.
Jonathan R.: I wonder if we’ll write a million stories about how dirty the leafs are now or if that’s just for the panthers or if it’s “just hockey”
Chris J.: Chanting USA at the end cracked me up, 2 Canadians and a Russian won that game
David M.: Please sit Domi. His idiot penalties just send the team overboard early
Shots:
Toronto 22
Florida 37
Hits:
Toronto 47
Florida 40
Faceoffs won:
Toronto 33
Florida 19
Faceoff win %:
Toronto 63.5
Florida 36.5
Florida finishes it off with a little extra activity at the end, some scrapping at the buzzer. But the Panthers win 2-0, and the series is tied 2-2.
P3, 3:16 – Panthers 2, Maple Leafs 0
Shot attempt by Tomas Nosek blocked by Max Pacioretty.
Craig Berube is double-shifting William Nylander frequently in this third period, and with good reason: The Leafs need goals, two of them now to tie the game.
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P3, 7:50 – Panthers 2, Maple Leafs 0
Sam Bennett has the Panthers' second goal, and Florida is closing in on a win in Game 2 and an even series.
Shots:
Toronto 18
Florida 32
Hits:
Toronto 40
Florida 39
P3, 10:00 – Panthers 1, Maple Leafs 0
Florida is 10 minutes away from evening the series at 2-2.
P3, 12:57 – Panthers 1, Maple Leafs 0
Shot attempt by Brandon Carlo misses the net.
P3, 15:09 – Panthers 1, Maple Leafs 0
A sixth power play for the Panthers as Oliver Ekman-Larsson is penalized for interference against Evan Rodrigues.
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Craig Berube is juggling the look of his top-6:
Knies-Matthews-Nylander
Pacioretty-Tavares-Marner
P3, 20:00 – Panthers 1, Maple Leafs 0
Panthers are 20 minutes away from a tie series.
The balance of play is about as bad as it can get after 40 minutes. Best news for the Leafs is they're only one goal back and these playoffs have featured a ton of late comebacks.