RECAP: Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 1

SUNRISE, Fla. – Welcome back.

Returning from the break with a bang, the Florida Panthers raced out to an early lead and didn’t look back in a 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.

With the win, the Panthers improved to 30-25-3.

“I thought we started well, which we really wanted to do,” said forward Brad Marchand, who had two goals in the win. “The points are what matter right now. We did some good things tonight. I thought we played really well for having a few weeks off as a group.”

Fresh off helping Canada win silver at the Winter Olympics, Marchand quickly broke the ice for the Panthers when he beat Joseph Woll to make it 1-0 at 3:18 of the first period.

On the power play, Florida doubled its lead when Carter Verhaeghe took a pass from Evan Rodrigues and ripped a shot over Woll’s glove from the right circle to make it 2-0 at 5:13.

In a giving mood, Anton Lundell notched an assist on both goals.

Striking on the other side of special teams, the Panthers tacked on another goal when Rodrigues forced a turnover in the neutral zone, skated in all alone on Woll, and then beat the Maple Leafs goaltender with a nifty left-to-right deke to make it 3-0 at 16:40.

It was the first shorthanded goal of his career.

“I didn’t realize it,” Rodrigues said of the milestone. “It’s nice to play the penalty kill. I did it early on in my career and then didn’t for a bit. I’ve been doing it quite a bit this year, so it’s nice to be out there. It’s nice to help the team win.”

A dominant start, the Panthers led 17-4 in scoring chances after 20 minutes.

“The thing we wanted to see the most was that first-period speed,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “That was the best part of our game. Offensively, really, really quick in that game. Being ready to go.”

The second period belonged to Sergei Bobrovsky.

Of his 28 saves in the win, 11 came during the middle frame, with none more impressive than an athletic toe save against Maple Leafs leading scoring William Nylander on a partial breakaway.

“Find that moment, find that save, and build from it,” Bobrovsky said.

On a power play, the Maple Leafs cut their deficit to 3-1 just 43 seconds into the third period when a backhand shot from John Tavares went off a defender and into the cage.

Initially appearing to regain their three-goal cushion on a goal from Mackie Samoskevich, the Panthers had their score stripped from the board after a successful challenge for offside.

With the Panthers keeping their foot on the gas, Marchand – moments after hitting the post on a previous try – sent the puck into Toronto’s empty net to make it 4-1 at 16:51. Not long after that, Matthew Tkachuk added another empty-net goal to lock the 5-1 win at 18:08.

“Everybody understands what we need to do, and that’s very important,” Bobrovsky said. “It’s a big win, it’s a big two points for us, but tomorrow is another biggest game of the year.”

THEY SAID IT

“He certainly had some big saves he had to make, and he did.” – Paul Maurice on Sergei Bobrovsky’s performance

“I think guys were excited to play again. Sometimes when you have time off, you’re just excited to get back on the ice again with the guys.” – Brad Marchand on the first period

“I think our start was huge. We just kind of rolled from there.” – Evan Rodrigues on tonight’s win

CATS STATS

- Evan Rodrigues recorded seven shots on goal in the first period.

- Anton Lundell registered his eighth multi-point game of the season.

- Sergei Bobrovsky saved 1.7 goals above expected, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

- The Panthers won 55.8% of their faceoffs.

- Gustav Forsling finished with a team-best +3 plus/minus rating.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Sleep, wake up, do it again.

Back to work in less than 24 hours, the Panthers will close out their back-to-back with a battle against the Buffalo Sabres at Amerant Bank Arena at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.