Panthers win Game 5 in OT, eliminate Maple Leafs in East 2nd Round

TORONTO --Nick Cousins scored at 15:32 of overtime, and the Florida Panthers advanced to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 1996 with a 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Scotiabank Arena on Friday.

Cousins carried the puck down the ice, dragged it around Toronto forward Calle Jarnkrok and scored short side from the left face-off circle.

"It's one of those moments where you'll grow up and tell your kids about," Cousins said. "My daughter is only 11 months, so it's something I've got to tell her when she grows up. Big goal, big moment for our team. Really special, really special."

The Panthers advance to face the Carolina Hurricanes, who eliminated the New Jersey Devils with a 3-2 overtime win in Game 5 on Thursday.

"Honestly, I don't even want to talk about Carolina yet," Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "We just want to enjoy this one tonight and take a few days and then we will move on to them. It's a big task, but we deserve to enjoy this one tonight. It was a grind of a series even though it was only five games."

RELATED: [Complete Maple Leafs vs Panthers series coverage]

Aaron Ekblad and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 50 saves for the Panthers, the second wild card from the East.

"I got to watch a bunch of guys that you care about a lot, and I enjoyed the [heck] out of it," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "Just to walk into the room after, it's pure joy in there. … It's fun to watch guys who work really hard, compete and battle, and by no means was any of this easy.

"That's a good team we beat. It's fun to be associated with [our players], they're fun, they come to the rink, they work their butts off and we laugh."

Morgan Rielly and William Nylander scored, and Joseph Woll made 40 saves for the Maple Leafs, the No. 2 seed from the Atlantic Division.

"We lose the series in the first three games," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "Game 4 (a 2-1 win), I thought we played very well. I thought we played well enough to win the game today. But the first three games, we're in similar positions that we were in Games 4 and 5 but did not handle the situations well and didn't capitalize on our chances. The margin for error is basically none because of our results in the first three games."

Ekblad gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 3:31 of the first period on a power play when he one-timed a pass from Gustav Forsling from the left face-off dot. It was his first goal of the postseason.

Verhaeghe extended it to 2-0 at 16:18, one-timing a pass from Anthony Duclair at the bottom of the right circle.

Rielly cut it to 2-1 at 7:50 of the second period when his shot from the blue line deflected off the left leg of Cousins in front.

Toronto thought it had tied it at 17:11 when Rielly cut across the crease and appeared to score at the left post, but a video review determined the referee had deemed the play dead prior to the puck crossing the goal line.

Nylander did tie it 2-2 at 15:33 of the third period when he scored short side from the bottom of the right circle.

"It's real tough," Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews said. "I just look around the room ... every guy battles for each other, works for each other. This is as tight of a group that I played on in my seven years, and I think we've played with some really great people, some really great teammates, and we've had some of the tight groups.

"It stings, obviously, to go out like that and not get an opportunity to get another crack at it with all these guys."

Bobrovsky made two key saves in overtime, stopping Jarnkrok all alone 27 seconds in before making back-to-back saves against Matthews on the doorstep at 2:43. Matthews was held without a goal in the series and had just two assists.

"I saw him there in front of the net," Bobrovsky said. "I tried [to] stay patient and let him do the first move; he's an unbelievable player and he had a great shot. It was a great challenge to play against him, against [all] those offensive guys. They created great challenges and great scoring chances. It was a fun challenge."

Tkachuk said the Panthers succeed in the series because of the way they delivered at critical times.

"We don't have as much skill as them, we definitely don't," Tkachuk said. "I don't think there's many teams that do but, come playoff time, it's not about that. It's about sticking together, coming through in (big) moments, it's about timely stuff."

NOTES:Bobrovsky became the second goalie in Florida history with a 50-save performance, joining John Vanbiesbrouck (55 in a 1-0 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup Final). ... Rielly's goal was his first since Game 5 of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning. … The Panthers have won three consecutive playoff series in overtime, including Game 7 of the first round against the Boston Bruins, and Game 6 of the 2022 Eastern Conference First Round against the Washington Capitals. Verhaeghe scored the overtime goal in those two.