With one game remaining, Florida still controls its playoff destiny
With one game remaining, Florida still controls its playoff destiny
A glorious opportunity presented itself to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
The New York Islanders lost 5-2 to the Washington Capitals, opening the door for Florida to potentially punch their playoff ticket right then and there.
All the Cats had to do was beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in regulation or overtime, and boom, they’re in.
And boy oh boy did they come close.
In what was an extremely exciting game between two great division rivals, Toronto capitalized on a fortunate break when it counted the most and beat the Panthers in overtime 2-1.
The extra frame loss gave Florida 92 points in the standings with one game to play. The Islanders remained at 91 points.
It turns out the big winners in the playoff race was the team that didn’t play. The Pittsburgh Penguins now control their own destiny, as the Pens have 90 points and two games to go.
As luck would have it, Pittsburgh gets to face the two worst teams in the league during their final two games.
Florida hosts the Carolina Hurricanes to close things out Thursday and the Islanders the Montreal Canadiens.
Two points for the Cats would ensure a spot in the playoffs, regardless of what anyone else may do.
FIRST PERIOD
Florida came out like gangbusters and dominated possession for the first 75 seconds.
Toronto’s first rush up ice ended with John Tavares drawing a tripping penalty on Brandon Montour.
The Panthers penalty kill was strong, and as the penalty expired, Montour came out of the box and found Ryan Lomberg streaking to the net, but Ilya Samsonov slammed his pads to the ice and kept the puck out.
Toronto’s best shift of the game brought their first shot on goal, a point shot by Mark Giordano, but it ended with an offensive zone penalty called on Michael Bunting for holding.
Florida didn’t get much going until the end of the power play, but Toronto ended up with the best opportunity as Bunting came out of the box and beat Gus Forsling with a spin move in the Panthers zone.
Bunting’s backhand ended up going wide of the net.
A fun sequence came during the final minute of the period, with both goalies coming up with big saves to keep the game scoreless.
Lyon stoned Alex Kerfoot point blank from the slot off a nice feed from former Panther Noel Acciari, and then Lomberg got loose on a semi-breakaway that Samsonov stopped with the right pad.
SECOND PERIOD
The tendies picked up right where they left off when the second period got underway.
Lyon made a nice glove save on William Nylander after Forsling blew a tire during the opening minute, then Samsonov made a couple stops on Lomberg and Eric Staal.
Eetu Luostarinen got back-to-back grade-A looks on Samsonov from below the circles, but once again the Leafs goaltender slammed the door.
Florida was up to 18 shots before the five-minute mark of the second period.
With around nine minutes to go, Ryan O’Reilly picked up the puck in Florida’s end and made a great toe-drag move around Forsling to break in alone on Lyon. He proved to be equal to the task, snapping his pads shut and pouncing on the puck before anyone could get to it.
Toronto finally broke through with 2:13 left in the period. Mitch Marner threw a shot toward the goal from the point that was redirected by Auston Matthews as it neared the net.
Lyon got a piece of it, but the puck squeezed thorough his arm and body and tricked over the goal line.
Florida was leading 31-15 in shots on goal but was trailing 1-0 where it counted.
THIRD PERIOD
Marc Staal may have saved a goal early in the third, making a sliding block of a pass intended for Matthews on a 2-on-1.
Toronto did a good job of shutting things down and limiting Florida’s puck possession through much of the first half of the period.
Florida would finally cash in on a play in which the Leafs sent out the Matthews line with a faceoff deep in the Panthers zone.
Things went exactly as planned for Toronto, right until they didn’t anymore.
After a solid minute of Leafs possession, Verhaeghe jumped on a loose puck following a nice defensive play by Marc Staal
Verhaeghe beat TJ Brodie to the puck, catching him flat footed and going the wrong direction. Verhaeghe recognized the situation and turned on the jets, knowing he would be able to beat Brodie to the Leafs zone and create a rush opportunity.
Verhaeghe crossed the blue line and slowed down, waiting for the cavalry to arrive. A streaking Montour called for the puck, collected a feed from Verhaeghe and wired it past Samsonov.
The goal shifted momentum in Florida’s favor, but Samsonov continued to stand tall.
He made a pair of stops on Barkov and Verhaeghe in the final 90 seconds that had the Panthers forwards skating back to the bench in disbelief.
OVERTIME
A Panthers-dominated overtime ended with Toronto capitalizing on a break that came right after Samsonov robbed Matthew Tkachuk’s blistering one-timer.
Tavares ended up with a wide-open breakaway and went forehand-backhand on Lyon, sending the puck over his arm, into the net and through the heart of every Panthers fan that had been sitting on the edge of their seat for an almost three-minute long shift.
GAME NOTES
- undefined
- undefined
- undefined
- undefined
- undefined