Panthers win final road game 6-2, but a costly victory jeopardizes their NHL Draft Lottery positioning.
The Florida Panthers wrapped up their final road trip of the season on a positive note.
Coming off four consecutive defeats since leaving South Florida, the Panthers pulled off a 6-3 win on Saturday night in Toronto despite putting up a mostly-AHL roster.
The Cats got off to a quick start at Scotiabank Arena thanks to a goal by Eetu Luostarinen on the game’s first shift.
Rushing into the zone with Mackie Samoskevich, Luostarinen picked up a rebound in the corner after a Samoskevich shot and sent a sharp angle shot toward the net that went off Joseph Woll and over the goal line just 23 seconds into the game.
Exactly five minutes and 10 seconds later, Cole Reinhardt came flying down the right side of the ice with the puck on his stick, driving to the Toronto net past Jake McCabe and putting the puck past Woll to give the Panthers an early 2-0 lead.
Tomas Nosek’s first goal of the season made it 3-0 Cats at the 92 second mark of the middle frame.
After rookie Marek Alscher came down from the point to cut off a Max Domi Exit attempt, he quickly found Nosek with the puck, and the veteran came barreling down the slot before beating Woll gloveside.
The assist was Alscher’s first NHL point.
Toronto mounted a comeback attempt from that point, getting goals from William Nylander 2:21 apart to bring the Maple Leafs within one of the Panthers heading into the second intermission.
A goal by Mackie Samoskevich, his fifth in eight games, nipped that idea in the bud early in the third period, and then the Cats cemented the win on empty-net goals by A.J. Greer and Nosek.
While heading home with the two points probably has the players on the plane feeling good, it could ultimately be Toronto who gets the last laugh.
The Panthers and Maple Leafs were tied in the NHL Draft Lottery race heading into the game, but now Toronto holds a two-point ‘edge’ on the Cats with two games to go for each team.
As it stands, Florida has the seventh-worst record in the NHL while Toronto is fifth-worst.
On to the final two games of the season, starting Monday night against the New York Rangers.
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Photo caption: Jan 6, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Easton Cowan (53) battles along the boards with Florida Panthers center Luke Kunin (71) during the second period at Scotiabank Arena. (Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images)