Panthers dominate Maple Leafs 5-1 after Olympic break, with Rodrigues and Marchand leading the offensive surge to kickstart their playoff push.
The Florida Panthers resumed their NHL season following the league’s Olympic break when they hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
With only 25 games remaining and plenty of ground to make up in the playoff race, Florida jumped all over the Leafs and skated to an exhilarating 5-1 victory at Amerant Bank Arena.
It didn’t take long for the Panthers to give their home fans something to cheer about.
Just 3:18 into the game, Brad Marchand jumped on the rebound of an Anton Lundell shot from the side boards, kicking the puck to his stick and depositing it behind a sprawling Joseph Woll to give the Cats an early 1-0 lead.
Less than two minutes later, with Nicolas Roy in the penalty box for tripping Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers stuck again.
This time it was a great backhand pass by Evan Rodrigues finding Carter Verhaeghe at the side of Woll’s net, and a quick snipe over Woll’s glove to put Florida up 2-0 at the 5:13 mark.
With Toronto on the power play late in the period, Florida took the opportunity to add to their lead.
As the Leafs were attempting to exit their own zone and move toward Florida’s blue line, Rodrigues picked off a pass by William Nylander and headed in all alone on a breakaway.
A nasty backhand-forehand move in which Rodrigues completely stopped his forward motion and dangled the puck around Woll’s leg gave the Panthers a 3-0 lead to take into the first intermission.
That’s how the score would remain until early in the third period.
With Toronto on the power play, a backhand pass by John Tavares went off Gus Forsling’s skate and through the legs of Sergei Bobrovsky, cutting into Florida’s lead just 47 seconds into the final frame.
The Leafs wouldn’t get any closer, as Bobrovsky shut the door and Marchand added an empty-net goal with 3:09 to go to give the Cats a 4-1 lead.
For good measure, Matthew Tkachuk also got in on the fun, scoring his own empty-netter with 1:52 to go after Toronto pulled Woll a second time.
On to the Sabres.
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Photo caption: Feb 26, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Brad Marchand (63) scores against Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)