Panthers Snap Losing Streak, Cruise Past Maple Leafs in 5-1 Win

SUNRISE, Fla. — After dropping four straight games and six of the last seven, the Florida Panthers turned the corner on Wednesday, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 at Amerant Bank Arena.

Mackie Samoskevich scored the game winning goal 5:36 into the first period, helping the Panthers win their first game in over a week. 

The Panthers improved to 13-9-1 in the four-point swing win as they closed the gap on Toronto for first place in the Atlantic Division, while Sergei Bobrovsky had 23 saves en route to his 10th win of the season. 

“It was a complete game, a complete 60 minutes,” Bobrovsky said. 

Samoskevich’s game winner was the only one of Florida’s five goals that came at even strength. 

Aleksander Barkov had two points on the night; he opened the scoring 4:46 into the game and also picked up an assist in the second period. 

“We’ve been trying to find our identity,” Barkov said. “I think it all comes from hard work and just being simple, being hard, being physical — that’s our game — I think we did that pretty well.”

Sam Reinhart made it a 3-0 game when he scored shorthanded late in the second period for his league-leading 17th goal of the season. 

“We played fast from the get go,” Reinhart said. “We were quick on our reads and that limits the time and space for them, they got some good players over there. As much as we can do that, it’s going to benefit us.”

Carter Verhaeghe put the game all but away when he scored Florida’s second power play goal of the game to make it 4-1 with 5:23 left in the third. He also opted to pass up an empty net goal in favor of feeding Sam Bennett — who sponsors an animal from the Humane Society of Broward County for every goal he scores this season. Verhaeghe led all skaters with three points in the win. 

“I enjoy dogs and cats so I thought I would dish it over there,” Verhaeghe said of his assist. “It was nice.” 

Over the seven game skid, Florida strayed away from the game that made them successful over the past two seasons. On Wednesday, the Panthers got back to their identity; they fed off an aggressive forecheck and hard backchecking.

“I think we had our priorities right in what we were trying to accomplish on the ice,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “We can’t be all things at all times and I think we tried to be over the last little while.”

The Panthers will hit the road as they head to Carolina on Friday for the first half of a back-to-back, home-and-home against the Hurricanes.

“We are going to face another good challenge,” Bobrovsky said when asked about facing the Hurricanes. “They got a good team. It’s going to be good games. Just focus on one shift at a time and keep building..” 

Florida currently sits second in the Atlantic Division, trailing the Leafs by one point.

PANTHERS NOTES

Anton Lundell did not play on Wednesday. He was a game-time decision after getting hit in the face with a puck in Monday night’s loss to Washington.

2024 Stanley Cup champions: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Anthony Stolarz and Steven Lorentz all returned to Sunrise with the Leafs on Wednesday. The trio all received their Stanley Cup rings and tribute videos from the team.