Florida took down Toronto 3-1 after jumping out to 2-0 lead on goals by Kevin Stenlund and Oliver Ekman-Larsson

The Florida Panthers knew they would have tough start to the season based off the team’s first few games.

So far, all four of the Panthers opponents were playoff teams from last season.

Florida dropped its first two games, road contests to the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets, before bouncing back with wins over the New Jersey Devils on Monday and the Toronto Maple Leafs during Thursday’s home opener.

Florida jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Kevin Stenlund and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Looking back at Florida's 3-1 win over the Maple Leafs, here are three key observations from the Panthers home-opening victory

Another very strong effort from Sergei Bobrovsky

Entering the season, we knew Bobrovsky would be getting the bulk of Florida’s starts in goal.

So far he’s played in all four of the Panthers season opening contests, but his performance in each of the past two games have been up to par with the way he played during Florida’s incredible run to last year’s Stanley Cup Final.

“His last two games were elite level goaltending,” Maurice said Thursday. “For a veteran goaltender, he understands that he needed to get to step his game up, not that he wasn't playing well, just that you'd have to be better than average to beat that team, and he was very good.”

Is Florida’s penalty kill better than numbers indicate?

Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice made a good point after Florida’s 3-1 win over Toronto.

Florida has given up at least one power play goal in each of its first four games of the season, but as Maurice pointed out, there is more to the story than just the statistics.

“Our kills have actually been a lot better than the numbers,” Maurice said. “We’ve got 6 on 4s, 4 on 3s, an empty-net shorthanded goal, so the numbers are ugly."

He also brought up the unit killing off a late 6 on 4 against Toronto after they'd surrendered a goal in the same situation to New Jersey on Monday. 

"It was a nice way for those guys to get a little appreciation, because they’ve actually been pretty good, it’s just the numbers are telling us they’re not," Maurice said. 

Stenlund big home debut

Florida’s new fourth line center had a big night in his first game at Amerant Bank Arena.

Kevin Stenlund scored the game’s opening goal, and his line with Ryan Lomberg and Steven Lorenz was consistent throughout the night for Florida, bringing energy, physicality and responsible play in their own end.

"More comfortable every day, right?" Maurice said of Stenlund. "New guy coming in, he's got a very specific set of skills, can shoot the puck a ton, but he's also a smart kind of veteran penalty killer. I thought he and Lomberg, that line had some important shifts for us in the third period. We were good in the first, the second period with all the power plays and some of the transition, the game got bogged down and I didn't think we were very good. To be able to come out of that and be good in the third again is hard to do in this league. And I thought that line was the driver of it."

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