Panthers Sneak By Leafs

The Florida Panthers showed that it does not matter how few amount of shots you have, as long as they go into the net. That proved true as they were victorious over the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 Tuesday night at the Bank Atlantic Center. The Panthers got up 1-0 just 1:57 into the game as Erik Gudbranson took a right point slap shot after Tim Kennedy beat a Toronto defender for a loose puck on the right-side wall. For Gudbranson it was his second goal in the NHL. In the second period, Mikhail Grabovski tied the game with a shot from the left circle at 2:11. Just 19 seconds later, Bill Thomas scored his first goal of the season on a breakaway and the Panthers regained the lead. Florida scored on their first power play at 4:13 as Michal Repik put in his second goal this year on a redirection from the end of the crease off a Jason Garrison top right circle shot. Kris Vetsteeg picked up his 17th goal on a five-on-three power play at 6:55 as he fired a shot from the left sude of the crease for a Panthers 4-1 lead. After giving up four goals on seven shots, Toronto goalie James Riemer was pulled by coach Ron Wilson for Jonas Gustavsson after that goal. Dion Phaneuf cut the lead at 9:34 with a slap shot from the right circle. Toronto closed the gap to 4-3 when Grabovski put in his second goal of the game on the power play with a deflection in front of the crease. Tomas Fleishmann put the game out of reach with a right circle wrist shot two minutes later. Florida has three days off until they face the surging New York Rangers on Friday.