The Panthers have won five consecutive postseason games for the first time in franchise history. In addition, they prevailed in the first two games of a Stanley Cup Playoff series for the first time since winning the first two contests against the Boston Bruins in the 1996 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
Toronto roared out to a 1-0 lead at the 2:20 mark of the first period. Morgan Rielly fed a pass from the left point and Luke Schenn released a snap shot from the right point. Sergei Bobrovsky made the initial save, however Alexander Kerfoot scored on a forehand shot from the top of the crease for his second goal of the postseason.
The Maple Leafs extended their lead to 2-0 on the power play at 5:10. Auston Matthews pushed the puck from the crease area to Mitch Marner in the low left circle. He connected a cross-ice pass and Ryan O' Reilly one-timed a slap shot from the low right circle for his third tally of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Florida cut the deficit to 2-1 with 8:37 left in the first period. Sam Reinhart backhanded a pass from the end wall behind the Toronto cage and Anton Lundell put in a wrist shot from the right of the crease by Ilya Samsonov for his first goal.
The Panthers evened it up 2-2 just 19 seconds into the second period. Anthony Duclair stole the puck in the neutral zone and dropped a pass at the top of the zone. Aleksander Barkov skated to the top left circle and scored on a wrist shot for his second goal of the playoffs.
The Cats continued their momentum at the 1:06 mark of the second and took their first lead of the contest 3-2. Eetu Luostarinen stopped a clearing pass by Matthews at the top of the Leafs zone. Matthew Tkachuk did a give-and-go pass play with Lundell on the right wing. Tkachuk then sent a cross-ice pass and Gustav Forsling lifted a wrist shot from the left circle for his second tally of the postseason.
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