Maple Leafs Drop Panthers

    The Florida Panthers played their final home game of the season and were crushed by the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0 at BB&T Center on Thursday night. Both teams will play in the same division next season due to the NHL realignment.
    Florida(14-27-6) finished with a 8-11-5 home record this season and clinched last place in the NHL. They will have either the number one or number two overall pick in the NHL Draft on June 30 based on the lottery drawing this Monday night. It is the first time in franchise history that team finished in the bottom of the league standings.
    Toronto(26-16-5) scored on their first shot on goal at 5:39 of the first period. Jay McClement brought the puck to the right edge of the crease from behind the net and passed across the low slot. Leo Komarov softly took a wrist shot from the low left circle that went between the legs of Jacob Markstrom for a 1-0 lead.
    The Maple Leafs increased their lead to a two-goal margin with 5:28 remaining in the period. Clarke MacArthur crossed the Panthers line and sent a left-outlet pass to Matt Frattin. He released a backhand on net from the left low circle which was saved and MacArthur put in the rebound with a wrist shot from the top of the crease.
    After getting their first shot just 21 seconds in the game, Florida had mustered their second shot at 11:05. The Cats did a similar thing two nights ago when they got their second shot just over 15 minutes into that contest.
    The Leafs captalized on a Panthers shot through the crease and broke out on a two-on-one breakaway from the neutral zone. Phil Kessel threw a cross-ice pass to Nazem Kadri, he skated into the Panthers zone through the left circle and returned the puck to him as he shot into the half-empty net on the right side of the crease at 1:41 of the second period.
    The Panthers gave up another tally at 4:21 of the period as the avalanche of Toronto goals continued. Kadri skated from behind the Florida cage and sent the puck in the low slot. Kadri fanned on his snap shot and Kessel finished the play with a shot from the crease area.
    Neither team were able to score in the third period as the Cats held the Leafs to one shot in the frame. James Reimer picked up his tenth career shutout as he stopped all 34 shots and improved to 19-7-5. Markstrom stopped 13 of 17 shots as he fell to 7-14-1. Florida went 0-for-3 with the man advantage while Toronto was 0-for-1. The Panthers finish the regular season in Tampa Bay against the Lightning on Saturday night.