Apr 8, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) shoots the puck as Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (95) defends during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/f2605b44-1347-4dbd-a867-f8561a3a5f22.jpeg] Apr 8, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) shoots the puck as Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (95) defends during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images) The Florida Panthers find themselves in somewhat new territory. Over the past couple postseasons, the Panthers haven't often been in a situation where you could say their backs are against the wall. But that's where they find themselves entering Game 3 of their second-round playoff series with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Florida dropped a pair of one-goal games this week up at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and now must pull out a crucial victory in Game 3 on Friday night or risk falling into the near-death sentence that is an 0-3 deficit in a seven-game series. During the regular season, Florida went 2-0 against the Maple Leafs at home, winning both games by a combined score of 8-1. While the Panthers did not look like themselves for much of Game 1, it was a different story in Game 2, and Florida should have some confidence heading into the game of the series in Sunrise. The oddsmakers agree that Florida should be feeling good about Friday night, as the Hard Rock Bet app, Florida’s only legal sportsbook, has the Panthers as -230 favorites as of late Thursday night. Both teams are expected to roll with the same lineups that we saw in Game 2, and Toronto will be keeping the same goaltending tandem as Anthony Stolarz did not make the trip to South Florida with his Maple Leafs teammates. Stolarz was injured during Game 1 and replaced by Joseph Woll, who will get the start in Game 3. So far during the series, Woll has stopped 42 of the 48 shots he’s faced. If Florida is going to come back in this series, Woll will need to be outplayed by Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Through two games, that has not been the case. We’ll see how Florida shows up when they take the ice on Friday at Amerant Bank Arena. Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Game 3 against the Maple Leafs: Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand Evan Rodrigues – Nico Sturm – Jesper Boqvist Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones Nate Schmidt – Dmitry Kulikov Scratches: A.J. Greer, Uvis Balinskis, Jonah Gadjovich, Tomas Nosek, Jaycob Megna LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Former Panthers Coach Joel Quenneville hired by Anaheim Ducks following temporary ban from NHL [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/former-panthers-coach-joel-quenneville-hired-by-anaheim-ducks-following-temporary-ban-from-nhl] Brad Marchand Said This About Maple Leafs After Game 2 [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/brad-marchand-said-this-about-maple-leafs-after-game-2] Three takeaways: Panthers third line is playing like a first line, Florida allowing too much off the rush [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/three-takeaways-panthers-third-line-is-playing-like-a-first-line-florida-allowing-too-much-off-the-rush] Sergei Bobrovsky struggling against Maple Leafs as Panthers drop consecutive games in Toronto [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/players/sergei-bobrovsky-struggling-against-maple-leafs-as-panthers-drop-consecutive-games-in-toronto] Panthers come up short in Game 2, fall into 0-2 hole against Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-come-up-short-in-game-2-fall-into-0-2-hole-against-maple-leafs]
