5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers 3, Maple Leafs 2 (OT)

TORONTO -- The '90s are back in style in South Florida!

Sending the Florida Panthers to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1996, Nick Cousins played the role of hero when he scored in overtime to lock in a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Scotiabank Arena on Friday.

"It's an unreal feeling now," said Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, who could only make it a few words at a time before flashing an ear-to-ear smile. "To go to the Eastern Conference Finals is a big, big deal for us. That's all I can think right now. It was a great effort by everyone."

After closing out the regular season on a 6-1-1 run just to sneak into the playoffs by a single point, the eighth-seeded Panthers are just the third wild card team to advance to the Conference Finals since the NHL established the wild card format nearly a decade ago in 2013-14.

While many outsiders doubted their chances, the team's internal belief never wavered.

"There's so many big moments that have happened since January where it could've been the end for us," Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "It could've been a game that we just couldn't come back from. We made the playoffs by one point. It's crazy to think about."

Having already dispatched the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins and the Maple Leafs, the Panthers know they'll have another tough test against the Carolina Hurricanes in Round 3.

But, for now, it's just about enjoying this moment.

"You get to watch a bunch of guys that you care about a lot and enjoy the hell out of it," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "Walking into the room after, there's pure joy in there."

For a quick recap of the game, click HERE.

To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. CUZZY IS CLUTCH

With "The Butcher" clearing a path, all Cousins had to do was let it rip.

Given plenty of space after Radko Gudas cleaned out the slot, Cousins curled the puck back before firing a perfect shot into the back of the net to give the Panthers a 3-2 win in overtime.

To no surprise, Cousins called the goal the biggest of his career to date.

"It's on the top of the list, for sure," said Cousins, who had 108 text messages waiting for him on his phone when he got back to the locker room. "It's one of those moments where you'll grow up and you'll tell your kids about it. My daughter is only 11 months, so that's something I'll get to tell her about when she grows up. A big goal. Big moment for our team. Really special."

Of course, Cousins also showed a lot of love to Gudas.

"So much credit to him," said Cousins, who'd never scored a playoff goal in overtime before. "He broke the play up in our own end and he got it up to me. I was fortunate to make a curl there and lucky enough it went in. All the credit to him. I think he even screened the goalie on the play."

Finding a lot of success since being moved up to the second line starting with Game 5 against the Bruins, Cousins has posted two goals and two assists in eight games since his promotion.

"We are lucky to have Nick Cousins on our team," Barkov said.

2. FIFTY FOR BOB

It takes an army to win a playoff series.

But at the head of that army for the Panthers was Sergei Bobrovsky.

Holding the high-powered Maple Leafs to just two goals in each of the five games in the series, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner peaked in Game 5 with a spectacular 50-save performance.

The most saves ever in an elimination game in franchise history, Bobrovsky made at least 13 saves in all three periods of regulation and then stopped all nine shots he faced in overtime.

Among those saves in the extra frame was a robbery on Auston Matthews from in tight.

"It was a fun game," Bobrovsky said. "It was a great atmosphere. The fans are great in here. It was special to play in the capital of hockey. It feels even more special to win and move on."

In the series, Bobrovsky stopped 164 of 174 shots for a .943 save percentage. Especially strong in big moments, he turned aside 50 of 54 high-danger shots that he saw. Thanks in large part to that success in sticky situations, he saved 9.32 goals above expected, including 2.45 in Game 5.

But Bobrovsky's run of success actually dates back to Round 1.

After starting the playoffs backing up late-season hero Alex Lyon, Bobrovsky didn't get his first start until Game 5 against the Bruins when the Panthers were facing a 3-1 deficit in the series. Since then, he's posted a 7-2 record with a .918 save percentage.

"He was thrown into our single toughest game of the year," Maurice said. "We were down 3-1 going into Boston. Go get 'em, right? He was lights out. I think about that sometimes. As a professional athlete, the amount of pressure that's on him. Some of that's based on salary. All that pressure on him, and to be that good, you've got to have a little tiny smile on your face."

3. EK IT OUT

Aaron Ekblad keeps getting better and better as the playoffs roll on.

Tied with Tkachuk for the most points on the team in Round 2 with five, the two-way defenseman posted a goal and an assist in Game 5. Breaking the ice, his one-timer on the power play opened the scoring and set the tone for the Panthers early on in Toronto.

Playing very tough minutes alongside Gustav Forsling on the top-defensive pairing, Ekblad helped limit the Maple Leafs to just three goals over the 96:10 he was deployed at 5-on-5 in the series.

"I feel good," Video: FLA@TOR, Gm5: Cousins fires in game-winning goal. "It's always a grind and it's always a challenge in the playoffs. As we look ahead to the next series, what I've learned from all of this is that nothing's the same. Nothing was remotely the same going from the Boston to the Toronto series, and I expect everything to be different again against Carolina."

Ekblad's 11 career playoff points are the third-most by a defenseman in franchise history.

4. CARTER IN THE CLINCH

Carter Verhaeghe continues to be Mr. Clinch.

Doubling the lead for the Panthers in the first period, Verhaeghe teed up a pass from Anthony Duclair and blasted a one-timer past Joseph Woll from the right circle to make it a 2-0 game.

With that goal, Verhaeghe, who always seems to carry an extra hot stick around playoff time, has now scored in each of the last three series-clinching games for the Panthers.

Roughly two weeks ago, he scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 7 against the Bruins in Round 1. Last year, he lit the lamp in overtime against the Washington Capitals in Game 6 of Round 1.

"We grinded all year and we worked so hard even to make the playoffs," said Verhaeghe, who scored a career-high 42 goals during the regular season. "It feels so good to have it pay off and make the Eastern Conference Finals. … I think we took it to them all overtime, and it paid off."

Cracking the scoresheet in eight of 12 games in this year's playoffs, Verhaeghe ranks second on the Panthers in scoring with 12 points (five goals, seven assists). Rewriting the records books, he sits first on the franchise's all-time playoff leaderboard in goals (13) and second in points (27).

"We just go out and play hockey," Verhaeghe said. "The media will talk and say we're underdogs or whatever. For us, we just love playing hockey, love playing for each other and love playing for the Florida Panthers."

5. STARS IN CHECK

The Panthers made sure it wouldn't be Toronto's stars that beat them in this series.

After the lethal quartet of Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and Mitch Marner scored 13 goals in Round 1 against the Lightning, they were held to just three combined goals against the Panthers.

Matthews and Tavares both went without a goal.

"It's amazing," Bobrovsky said of Florida's defense. "The guys did a great job. They cleaned up in front of the net very well and blocked shots at the right time. They allowed me to see the puck and control the puck. We're definitely in it together and it's fun to be in this locker room."

In front of Bobrovsky, the Panthers did a great job shutting down Toronto's usual high-speed game, especially through the neutral zone. Throughout the series, the Panthers surrendered just nine rush attempts to Toronto, with Matthews and Luke Schenn each registering two apiece.

More than anyone, Matthews is probably perplexed by his lack of production.

Scoring 100 goals over the last two seasons -- including 60 during his Hart Trophy-winning campaign in 2021-22 -- he came up empty in Round 2 despite registering a team-high 31 scoring chances.

"I think we did a good job, but Bob is the first thing I'm going to say," Barkov said when asked about the defensive effort. "He was unreal. He gave us a chance to win those games. I think defensively we played well. We got better once the series went on. I think they played really well defensively, too. We didn't have tons of chances, but when we had them, we scored them."

All advanced statistics courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com and MoneyPuck.com