Panthers lose to Maple Leafs in OT, fail to clinch playoff berth
The Florida Panthers missed an opportunity to clinch a Stanley Cup Playoff berth in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Monday.
Florida would have clinched with a regulation or overtime victory combined with the New York Islanders’ 5-2 loss at the Washington Capitals on Monday.
Brandon Montour scored for the Panthers (42-31-8), who had won six in a row and moved one point shead of the Islanders. Alex Lyon made 23 saves.
John Tavares scored on a breakaway with 22 seconds left in overtime win it for Toronto.
Auston Matthews scored his 40th goal of the season for the Maple Leafs (48-21-11), and Ilya Samsonov made 45 saves.
The Panthers trailed 1-0 until Montour tied the score 1-1 at 9:36 of the third period with a shot from the slot off a feed from Carter Verhaeghe.
Matthews gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 17:47 of the second period when he tipped Mitchell Marner’s shot from the point.
Toronto forward Matthew Knies, the 57th pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, made his NHL debut after signing a three-year, entry level contract on Sunday.
The Maple Leafs signed Ontario Hockey League goalie Nick Chenard to an amateur tryout agreement to serve as the backup to Samsonov for the game.
Debut day!@JackpotCityCA | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/OeQdk4uGrS
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 10, 2023
LEAFS WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWIN!!@LGCanada | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/k96eNoxgfj
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 11, 2023
Our Cap! ⭐️@Molson_Canadian | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/r3YYid991i
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 11, 2023
Auston Matthews recorded his fifth career 40-goal season, surpassing Darryl Sittler (4) for the most in @MapleLeafs history while also taking over the franchise record for most consecutive campaigns with as many goals in the process.#NHLStats: https://t.co/vyUWDatMXB pic.twitter.com/Jp7I9WownV
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 11, 2023