The Florida Panthers played perhaps their best game of the postseason on Sunday night in Sunrise.
Florida controlled the pace of play for the majority of the game, shutting down and shutting out the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 in Game 4.
After falling behind 0-2 in the series, the second-round matchup now heads back to Toronto knotted at two games apiece.
There was an avalanche of Maple Leafs penalties during the opening period, starting with a Max Domi high stick just 2:04 into the game.
By the time we reached the latter stages of the period, Florida was 0-3 on the man advantage and staring down a possible momentum-shifting fourth straight failed power play.
A gorgeous cross-ice pass by Matthew Tkachuk found the tape of Carter Verhaeghe at the back post, and he easily slid the puck into the yawning cage to give Florida a 1-0 lead.
Florida continued to pour on the shots, holding a 23-9 advantage in that department when the game reached its midway point.
Joseph Woll made what was possibly the save of the game when he robbed Sam Reinhart’s wrist shot with a snappy glove save.
With just over three minutes left in the period, Bobrovsky came up with his own big save, getting his left pad on a William Nylander breakaway shot that was a little rushed due to Gus Forsling bearing down on the Leafs’ sniper.
As Toronto continued pushing during the final frame, Florida took advantage of their aggression and picked up an insurance goal.
Coming down the ice on an odd-man rush, Sam Bennett held on to the puck and made a move to his forehand, getting Woll to commit and leaving the net wide open.
Bennett made no mistake, giving Florida a 2-0 lead with 7:51 to go.
That would be all Florida would need. We’ve got a best-of-3 series heading back to Canada.
On to Game 5.
QUICK THOUGHTS
Verhaeghe has now scored in back-to-back games for the second time this postseason (G4 and G5 vs. Tampa).
Picking up helpers in consecutive games was Tkachuk. He’s got four assists over his past five games.
Sasha Barkov is now riding a three-game point streak after picking up an assist on Verhaeghe’s power play goal after scoring goals in each of the previous two games against Toronto.
Florida went a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill while scoring one power play goal on six opportunities.
Bennett is up to five goals and eight points during the postseason, including goals in three of his past five outings.
Aaron Ekblad assisted on Bennett’s goal, giving him points in four straight games.
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