RECAP: Maple Leafs 4, Panthers 1

SUNRISE, Fla. – With minimal room for mistakes as they try to maneuver through multiple obstacles early this season, the injury-plagued Florida Panthers saw their losing streak reach three games with a 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday night.

Falling to 12-12-1 in the standings, the Panthers now find themselves in last place in the Atlantic Division, but also only five points out of third place with a pair of games in hand.

But even in defeat, the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions feel they’re making progress.

“In these situations, just staying with it is the most important thing,” head coach Paul Maurice said of battling adversity. “But we’ve got to get better. Some higher-end performances out of guys. They’re playing as hard as they can. The puck’s not as friendly as it used to be. There’s tension on the stick. That’s normal and you see that when you lose a few in a row. It’s finding that good feeling. Sometimes it’s not a whole game. You’ve just got to start with a period. I thought we did that tonight even though it felt bad.”

Welcoming a new addition to his family, Carter Verhaeghe was a late scratch for Florida.

Recalled from the AHL on Monday, Jack Studnicka filled in and made his Panthers debut.

In 10:32 of ice time, the team’s newest center logged three hits and three shots on goal.

“I thought he did some good things,” Maurice said.

Even with the Panthers applying the pressure early on, the Maple Leafs managed to strike first when Troy Stecher lit the lamp on a point shot to make it 1-0 at 5:24 of the first period.

Scoring in his second straight game, Dakota Joshua tacked on another goal for Toronto less than three minutes later when he beat Sergei Bobrovsky from in tight to make it 2-0 at 7:54.

Despite trailing, the Panthers led 14-8 in scoring chances in the first period.

On the penalty kill late in the second period, the Panthers cut their deficit in half when Anton Lundell set up Sam Reinhart for a slick shorthanded goal to make it 2-1 at 14:43.

Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Reinhart leads the NHL with 12 shorthanded goals.

“There’s some frustration, for sure,” Reinhart said of tonight’s loss. “A lot of things have gone right for us over the last few years, and that certainly adds to it. We’ve been in this position before. It’s going to be the guys in the room and the guys that are healthy to get us out of it. The compete, the work, was there. We’re going to find a way to stick with it.”

With the Panthers on the power play in the third period, Bobrovsky kept the Maple Leafs from netting their own shorthanded goal when he robbed Nicolas Roy on a 2-on-1 rush.

Soon after, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner stood tall and denied Bobby McMann on a breakaway.

“Ideally, you let him have one big save to kind of turn it around, but he was having to make three or four,” Reinhart said of Bobrovsky’s big third period. “That’s what he constantly does, especially as the games go on and get tighter. We know that.”

But after being denied on those two quality looks, it was an odd bounce that helped the Maple Leafs regain their cushion. After the puck skipped toward the net and bounced off Bobrovsky’s pads, Scott Laughton found the rubber and scored to make it 3-1 at 12:18.

At 19:41, John Tavares locked in the 4-1 win for Toronto with an empty-net goal.

Even with a depleted lineup, the Panthers believe there’s a path to points on the horizon.

“This is what we’ve got and that’s why you’ve got to find a new way to grind,” Maurice said. “Maybe new wins at times and build your confidence in smaller pieces in the game and not look at the record as the forward motion. You always start playing a little bit better before you start winning, and I think we’ve had that in our games. We have to have a bit of patience with what we’re doing.”

THEY SAID IT

“He made a bunch of big saves. When our game does slightly open up when it needs to at points, he made a whole bunch of big saves, for sure.” – Paul Maurice on Sergei Bobrovsky’s performance

“Super special day for myself, my family, grandparents, everyone. Big fans of the game, so everyone was jacked up.” – Jack Studnicka on making his Panthers debut

“It’s easy to focus on the lack of offense, the lack of production, right now. The thing that’s going to turn it around for us is just tightening it up.” – Sam Reinhart on Florida’s recent stretch

“We have a good team. We have good coaches. We believe in each other.” – Sergei Bobrovsky

CATS STATS

- Jesper Boqvist had a team-high four hits.

- Aaron Ekblad and Mackie Samoskevich each blocked three shots.

- The Panthers trailed 27-23 in scoring chances at 5-on-5.

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

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will look to break out of their current slump when they host the Nashville Predators at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.