Panthers Dominate Maple Leafs In Game 5

     The Florida Panthers stomped the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night. The Panthers lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and can win the series on Friday night in Sunrise. 

     Florida got out to a 1-0 advantage with 5:22 remaining in the first period. Jesper Boqvist made a square pass from the low slot and Sam Reinhart tapped the puck backwards in the right circle. Aaron Ekblad released a wrist shot from the top right circle past Joseph Woll for his second goal of the postseason. 

     In the second period, the Cats expanded their lead to 2-0 at the 6:08 mark. Matthew Tkachuk backhanded the puck from the left wing and Nate Schmidt sent a cross-ice pass from the left point. Dmitry Kulikov blasted a one-time slap shot for his first tally in the series and the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

     It became 3-0 for the Panthers with 9:55 to go in the second. Gustav Forsling forwarded an outlet pass from his own blue line and Reinhart carried the puck down the right side. He centered it from the right circle and Boqvist tapped it in from the left side of the crease for his first playoff goal. 

     The Panthers increased it to a four-goal margin 4-0 with 5:59 left in the period. Eetu Luostarinen backhanded a pass from the right wing and Anton Lundell connected a diagonal pass across the ice. Niko Mikkola fired a slap shot from above the top left circle for his first postseason goal. 

     Florida had a 5-0 lead at 6:23 of the third period. A Nate Schmidt left-point shot was redirected by Jonah Gadjovich and was stopped. A.J. Greer scored his first career playoff goal on a forehand shot from the top of the crease. Matt Murray replaced Woll in the net for Toronto after the goal. 

     The Maple Leafs fell behind 6-0 at the 9:10 mark of the third on a Panthers power-play goal. Brad Marchand steered the puck off a left-circle faceoff. Lundell touched it to the middle and Sam Bennett scored his sixth postseason goal on a wrist shot from the high slot. 

      Toronto broke the shutout with 1:06 remaining in the third period. Nicholas Robertson scored his first goal of the playoffs on a backhand shot by Sergei Bobrovsky. Max Domi and Steven Lorentz were credited with assists on the play. The Leafs had been held scoreless for over 143 minutes and 25 seconds.