SUNRISE, FLA. – The Florida Panthers put an end to their five-game losing streak with a critical 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena — a game that not only snapped Florida’s recent skid but also offered a potential preview of a first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs matchup.
Eetu Luostarinen scored the go-ahead goal just 1:04 into the third period, slipping a backhander past Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll for his ninth goal of the season — and the 50th of his NHL career. The goal gave Florida a 2-1 lead, one they would not relinquish.
The victory improves the reigning Stanley Cup champions to 45-29-4 on the season. Toronto, which entered on a four-game win streak, dropped to 47-26-4. With the result, Florida also took the regular-season series against Toronto 3-1-0, having previously won 5-1 on Nov. 27 and 3-2 on March 13, before losing the most recent meeting 3-2 on April 2.
“We needed to win a game,” said Panthers head coach Paul Maurice. “We’ve played pretty well here during this stretch and haven’t had much go our way. I thought we were fairly true to our identity. It wasn’t a particularly heavy game, but we did what we needed to do to win.”
Defenseman Gustav Forsling opened the scoring for Florida with a wrist shot from the point, capitalizing on an offensive zone face-off win by Anton Lundell midway through the first period. Carter Verhaeghe sealed the win with an empty-netter with 46.9 seconds remaining — his first goal in 13 games.
“Obviously it’s a great feeling getting this win,” Forsling said. “We don’t like losing. I think we’ve been playing good lately; we just haven’t gotten the results we wanted.”
John Tavares scored the lone goal for Toronto 1:06 into the second period, his 37th of the season. But that was all the Maple Leafs could manage against Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, who made 17 saves in a strong bounce-back performance.
Toronto had a golden opportunity to tie the game late in the third when Auston Matthews got a clean look from the slot, followed by a rebound chance for Matthew Knies. But Bobrovsky stood tall, making back-to-back stops to preserve Florida’s 2-1 lead.
Roster Updates & Injuries
The Panthers got a boost with the return of captain Aleksander Barkov, who had missed the previous three games with an upper-body injury. However, the team continues to battle key absences. Forward Sam Bennett is out for the remainder of the regular season (upper-body), while Matthew Tkachuk (lower-body) and Aaron Ekblad (suspension) are both sidelined until at least the start of the playoffs. Ekblad will not be eligible to return until Game 3 of Round 1.
Playoff Implications: Atlantic Division Race
With the win, Florida climbed to 94 points, pulling within four points of Toronto and just two behind Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division standings. All three teams are fighting for playoff positioning with just days remaining in the regular season:
- Toronto: 47-26-4 (98 points, 5 games remaining)
- Tampa Bay: 45-26-6 (96 points, 5 games remaining)
- Florida: 45-29-4 (94 points, 4 games remaining)
- Ottawa: 42-30-6 (90 points, 4 games remaining)
Toronto will visit Tampa Bay on Wednesday in a crucial showdown. A regulation win by the Lightning would vault them into first place via the regulation wins tiebreaker.
Up Next
Florida continues its four-game homestand on Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings, followed by matchups against the Buffalo Sabres (Saturday), New York Rangers (Monday), and a season finale at Tampa Bay on April 15. Toronto heads straight to Tampa for Wednesday’s tilt in what could shape the top of the division.
