“Through nine games, Carter has been our most consistent forward,” Maurice said of Verhaeghe. “Playoff hockey is hockey he understands. It resonates with him. It’s played at an incredibly high pace. It’s very physical. That’s where he is at his best. Everything kind of falls in line for him.”
Per NHL Stats, Verhaeghe joined Corey Perry, Alex Ovechkin and Patrick Kane for the fifth-most game-winning goals among active players with 11.
DOMI FINED
Max Domi will be in the lineup for the Maple Leafs in Game 5.
He’ll also have a little less money in his bank account.
On Monday, the Department of Player Safety announced that Domi has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for boarding Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov with just a few seconds left on the clock at the end of Game 4.
"I've got no thoughts today,” Maurice said when asked to comment on the decision. “It's not my job. Other people do that job."
Lucky to escape unscathed, Barkov was sent into the boards head-first on a surprise hit from behind from Domi, a play that typically receives harsher punishments from the NHL.
“Obviously he’s trying to take a run at Barky at the end there,” Bennett said. “The boys did a good job jumping in and sticking up for Barky. It’s been a physical series, so I expect more of that.”
While every fanbase likes to claim the other team is receiving preferential treatment, the numbers show that’s certainly not the case for the defending Stanley Cup champions.
In Round 2, the Maple Leafs currently have a 15-14 edge in power plays.
Overall, the Panthers have also lost two man games due to suspensions in this year’s playoffs between Rounds 1 and 2, while their opponents have combined for just one.
Moving on, the Panthers are just focused on getting the win in Game 5.
BIG GAME BOB
Just another day being Bobrovsky.
Going into brick-wall mode in Game 4, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner was outstanding for the Panthers when they needed him most, stopping every shot he faced in the 2-0 win.
While the volume of shots wasn’t particularly high, the quality certainly was.
Of his 23 saves, seven were considered high danger by NaturalStatTrick.com.
Looking back at the game, a point-blank glove save on Auston Matthews in the first period and a robbery on Matthew Knies in the third period are just two of his saves that stood out.
In addition to earning the fifth playoff shutout of his career, Bobrovsky is the first goalie to post multiple shutouts in back-to-back playoffs since Cam Talbot (2020-21 & 2019-20).
"It's a series," Bobrovsky said. "The bigger games are ahead, so we're excited about them. The series comes down to a best-of-three, so it's a big game, next one."
FOURTH IS FILTHY
It was another big game from Florida’s new-look fourth line.
After netting the go-ahead goal in Game 3, the trio of Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich and A.J. Greer was once again a force to be reckoned with against the Maple Leafs in Game 4.
Despite seeing limited minutes due to the abundance of special teams, the fourth line finished with a crazy 96.47% share of expected goals in roughly three minutes of ice time.
Over that time, the Maple Leafs had no shots on goal and just two shot attempts.
Bringing their usual brand of physicality and intensity to the forecheck throughout the game, Nosek, Gadjovich and Greer also combined for six hits and three shots on goal.
"It’s probably the same thing you want from all your lines, but you’re looking for predictability when they go on the ice,” Maruice said. “They have a cohesion of a style of game and positioning running their routes. I’ll say it again, it’s not they’ve kind of come on here. They had an incredible month at the end of the season with all those injuries.”
*Jameson Olive contributed to this article