RECAP: Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 4 (OT)

SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers are alive.

Avoiding falling into a 3-0 series hole in the Eastern Conference Second Round, Brad Marchand scored 15:27 into overtime to lift the defending Stanley Cup champions to a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday.

Getting the series to 2-1, the Panthers, who will try to pull even with the Maple Leafs in Game 4 on Sunday, recorded the sixth multi-goal comeback win in their playoff history.

“We just competed the way that we know that we can,” said Marchand, who’s found the back of the net in each of the last two games and is riding a five-game point streak. “It feels good, but it’s all about doing it again the next game. They’re going to come out hard.”

As Marchand said, the Maple Leafs came out hot.

Just 23 seconds into the first period, Matthew Knies found the puck after it clanged off the cross-bar and sent it into the twine to make it 1-0.

Doubling the lead later, John Tavares scored a wrap-around goal to make it 2-0 at 5:57.

In need of a response, the captain stepped up for the Cats.

Taking the puck to the net, Aleksander Barkov went crashing to the ice as the puck was poked past Joseph Woll by Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly to make it 2-1 at 7:38.

“We kind of had that start,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “We just over-skated one, and then got behind it. There’s just so much time left on the clock. I don’t think it’s hard to keep your group in it. It’s a veteran group of guys that [knows] you should stay in the fight.”

After back-to-back quality chances from the fourth line, the Panthers suddenly found themselves on the penalty kill early in the second period after an interference penalty.

Netting his second goal of the game, Tavares extended Toronto’s lead to 3-1 on the ensuing power play when his shot went off a defender and into the back of the net at 2:52.

Soon after, Brandon Carlo stole a goal for the Panthers by saving a puck at the goal line.

Or did he?

After a review by officials, it was deemed the puck crossed the line as Woll fell back into the net trying to cover it, giving Sam Reinhart a goal and cutting Florida’s deficit to 3-2 at 4:13.

Just 1:03 later, Carter Verhaeghe buried a centering feed from Sam Bennett to make it 3-3.

Back in the lineup for the first time since April 14, Tomas Nosek made an impact when he fired a shot that hit off Jonah Gadjovich and flew past Woll to put Florida up 4-3 at 15:07.

Making a big switch heading into Game 3, Maurice swapped out the team’s entire fourth line for Nosek, Gadjovich and A.J. Greer, who had all been healthy scratches recently.

In addition to netting a big goal, the fourth line also controlled 62.50% of shot attempts at 5-on-5.

“I was hoping, that’s for sure,” Gadjovich, who made his NHL playoff debut, said of waiting for his chance to get back into the lineup. “I was staying ready. The coaches are so great with us, the guys that aren’t playing. We push it in the gym and we push it on the ice so that if we get called we’ll be ready, and that’s what happened today.”

Gaining momentum, the Panthers led 11-3 in scoring chances in the second period.

“The second period was the first block of time we’ve had in this series that we looked to our identity,” Maurice said. “I think that would be true.”

After the Panthers managed to keep their one-goal lead intact for more than half the third period, the Maple Leafs finally found a way to tie things up thanks to a very lucky bounce.

Firing a shot on net from the half-wall, Rielly sent the puck off Bobrovsky’s pads, off the leg a of a defenseman and into the back of the net to bring the score to 4-4 at 10:56.

With the Maple Leafs holding their ground on a late penalty kill, the action went to overtime.

During that intermission, the mood in Florida’s locker room was as you’d expect.

“We were all positive,” Gadjovich said. “Obviously, we got down 3-1. If you would have told us at that point we’d be going into overtime, we would’ve taken that. We just kind of reset and took on the challenge.”

With the extra frame being about as tight as you’d expect, the Panthers received their first test when Bobrovsky had to stop Nylander on a breakaway just before the midway point.

Later, he denied Knies on a partial breakaway attempt.

“He’s been back there shutting the door,” Verhaeghe said of Bobrovsky, who finished with 27 saves to pick up the 50^th playoff win of his career. “We trust him.”

Taking advantage of some tired legs on Toronto’s side of the ice after an extended shift, Marchand, showing off his experience, waited for the perfect moment to strike before firing a shot on net from the top of the left circle that hit a body and went in to secure a crucial 5-4 win for the Panthers.

Down but not out, these Cats certainly have at least nine lives.

"They got a couple early, and we got the last one,” Reinhart said. “I really liked the way we responded after it. There was no panic. There was one job to do tonight, and that was to get a win and get back in this thing."

THEY SAID IT

“I was super excited. First playoff game. I didn’t want to be anything that I’m not. I just wanted to come in, play hard, play physical, do what I do and get the win, and ultimately that happened.” – Jonah Gadjovich on making his NHL playoff debut

“We obviously didn’t start the way we would’ve liked, but I loved our resiliency.” – Brad Marchand on Florida’s come-from-behind win in Game 3

“They work so hard every single day. It just felt like we needed a bit of style change, and they play a different style of game. They’ve been good. They played really well for us in the last month and a half.” – Paul Maurice on swapping in three new players on the fourth line for Game 3

CATS STATS

- Carter Verhaeghe scored his fourth career playoff goal against the Maple Leafs.

- The Panthers improved to 15-10 in their playoff history in overtime.

- Brad Marchand scored his fourth career playoff overtime goal.

- All three games of the series have been decided by one goal.

- The Panthers led 64-44 in hits.

- Aleksander Barkov went 17-of-24 (70.8%) in the faceoff circle.

- Gustav Forsling blocked a team-high three shots on goal.

- Eetu Luostarinen had a team-high eight hits.

- The Panthers led 33-23 in scoring chances at 5-on-5.

- Sergei Bobrovsky made six high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

- The Panthers led 38-18 in shot attempts when Aaron Ekblad was deployed at 5-on-5.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will look to pull even with the Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference Second Round when the two teams reconvene for Game 4 at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.