RECAP: Panthers 3, Maple Leafs 1

SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers have liked their game for a while.

On Tuesday, they were finally rewarded with some well-deserved points.

Executing their game at both ends of the ice, the Panthers opened their final homestand of the regular season with a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Amerant Bank Arena.

Improving to 45-29-4, the Panthers now sit four points behind Toronto for first place in the Atlantic Division and own a four-point cushion over the Ottawa Senators for third place.

“We needed to win a game because we’ve played pretty well in this stretch and haven’t had much go our way,” head coach Paul Maurice said.

Back in the lineup after getting a game off to rest, Gustav Forsling put the Panthers up 1-0 in the first period when he beat Joseph Woll with a snipe from the point at 9:26.

Setting up the goal, Anton Lundell won a crucial draw in the offensive zone.

In addition to his goal, Forsling fired eight shots in the win, just one shy of matching his career high.

“That’s playoffs,” the smooth-skating Swede when asked about his offensive approach. “We want to put the puck to the net as many times as we can, so I figured I’d shoot it today”

Coming out hot in their own barn, the Panthers looked in control for much of the first period, finishing with lopsided advantages in shot attempts (27-9) and scoring chances (12-3).

Evening the score for Toronto early in the second period, John Tavares, a thorn in Florida’s side for over a decade, beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a nifty wrist shot to make it 1-1 at 1:06.

Getting some revenge and bringing fans to their feet later in the period, Bobrovsky went from post to post in the blink of an eye to rob Tavares of a would-be goal on the power play.

Going save for save with Bobrovsky at the other end of the ice, Woll was sharp as well in the middle frame, with his biggest stop coming on a breakaway opportunity for Brad Marchand.

After two periods, the Panthers led 2.75-0.69 in expected goals, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

Breaking the tie early in the third period, Eetu Luostarinen lifted a defender’s stick in front of the net, grabbed the loose puck and backhanded right past Woll to make it 2-1 at 1:04.

“I think that was more like our game,” said Luostarinen, who’s up to nine goals on the season. “Everybody was skating hard and working for each other. Yeah, I think that was our kind of game.”

Ushering in the “Bob-by!” chants, Bobrovsky kept the lead intact when he denied Auston Matthews on a point-blank slap shot from the slot. Not done there, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner then shut down a shot from Matthew Knies on a quick follow-up attempt.

Those were two of 17 shots that No. 72 turned aside in the win.

“He’s fantastic,” Forsling said. “He’s just awesome, always there when we need him.”

Putting the game away, Carter Verhaeghe, who was finally rewarded after racking up scoring chances, buried an empty-netter to make it 3-1 with 47 seconds left in regulation.

An even more dominant win than the final scored would indicate, the Panthers ended with a 32-11 lead in scoring chances and a 73-36 advantage in shot attempts against Toronto.

“I think we did a lot of good things today,” captain Aleksander Barkov said. “We know how good of a team they are, so we wanted to play really hard and really smart. I think we did a good job today.”

THEY SAID IT

“We said we wanted to be in tight games, and I think we’ve had about three months of them now. I’m almost at my fill, but you might as well. Those are the games that we’re going to be in come playoff time.” – Paul Maurice

“A tight game. I think we played really well. We came out ready and got the win.” – Gustav Forsling

“I definitely liked our effort. Everybody was working together. They had no ice to play on, which was good.” – Eetu Luostarinen

“He (Gustav Forsling) has that. He has a great shot, a really hard shot. He gets those through to the net.” – Aleksander Barkov

CATS STATS

- The Panthers finish 3-1-0 in their season series with the Maple Leafs.

- Aleksander Barkov and Anton Lundell each won seven faceoffs.

- Seth Jones blocked a team-high two shots.

- Jesse Puljujarvi recorded a team-high eight hits.

- The Panthers surrendered just four shots on goal in the third period.

WHAT’S NEXT?

More divisional games!

Keeping the action within the Atlantic, the Panthers will close out their season series with the Detroit Red Wings at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.