Panthers edge Maple Leafs to gain in Atlantic Division
Eetu Luostarinen scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and the Florida Panthers ended a five-game losing streak with a 3-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.
Gustav Forsling and Carter Verhaeghe also scored for the Panthers (45-29-4), who moved to within two points of the Tampa Bay Lightning for second in the Atlantic Division. Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves.
“It was a tight game, thought we came out ready and came away with the win,” Forsling said. “We don’t like losing, so it is a great feeling getting this win. We have been playing good lately, just haven’t gotten the result we have wanted.”
The win was No. 914 for Florida coach Paul Maurice, which ties Barry Trotz for the third-most in NHL history.
“We needed to win a game because we played pretty well here in this stretch, just haven’t had much go our way,’’ said Maurice, whose team went 0-4-1 during its losing streak. “Through two periods, it looked like those games where we just weren’t finishing around the net. I thought we played a smart game, played true to the identity. We did what we needed to do to win.”
John Tavares scored for the Maple Leafs (47-26-4), who had won four straight and could have secured home ice in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a win in regulation. Joseph Woll made 34 saves.
“It is usually a tight game when play them,” Woll said. “In tight games, it is usually a bounce that goes either way. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of that bounce. I thought we played a strong third period, gave ourselves good chances.”
The Maple Leafs are in first place in the Atlantic, two points ahead of the Lightning, who they will play Wednesday.
“They wanted it more than us,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “It started in the face-off circle, and they are at 71 percent tonight. To me, it comes down to competitiveness and digging in. Seemed like they were a more desperate team.’’
Forsling gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 9:26 of the first period, beating Woll with a wrist shot from the point directly off a face-off win by Anton Lundell.
Tavares picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and drove to the top of the left circle before beating Bobrovsky with a wrist shot to tie it 1-1 at 1:06 of the second period.
“It was a tight game and not a lot of room,” Tavares said. “That’s what they do, they put you under a lot of pressure. You have to play through that and make them play through our pressure. They probably executed a little better than us.’’
Luostarinen gave Florida a 2-1 lead 1:04 into the third period. He got position at the top of the crease and jammed in a clearing attempt from behind the net with a backhand.
Verhaeghe scored an empty-net goal to end a 13-game goal drought for the 3-1 final at 19:13.
“We did a lot of good things, we know how good a team they are,’’ said Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, who returned to the lineup after missing the past three games with an upper-body injury. “We wanted to play really hard and really smart. I thought we did a good job of that.”
