The Maple Leafs have gone from the driver’s seat to the brink of elimination.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves as the Florida Panthers dismantled Toronto 6-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the teams’ second-round playoff series Wednesday
Jesper Boqvist, with a goal and an assist after sitting the last two games as a healthy scratch, Aaron Ekblad, Dmitry Kulikov, Niko Mikkola, A.J. Greer and Sam Bennett scored for the Panthers.
Sam Reinhart and Nate Schmidt added two assists each for the defending Stanley Cup champions. Ekblad added an assist for a two-point night.
Bobrovsky’s shutout streak of 143 minutes 25 seconds dating back to the third period of Game 3 was broken late in regulation, as Nick Robertson got the consolation goal for Toronto.Â
Joseph Woll allowed five goals on 25 shots before getting the hook in another ugly performance across the board from the listless Leafs, who led the Atlantic Division matchup 2-0 before three straight losses that have pushed them to the edge. Matt Murray finished in relief with six saves.
Game 6 will be played Friday night at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. Game 7, if necessary, would be back at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday.
The Panthers opened the scoring in a dominant opening period where they held a decided edge.
Florida, which blanked Toronto 2-0 in Game 4 at home, found a way past Woll at 14:38 when the Leafs lost a string of puck battles before Ekblad fired his second goal of the playoffs upstairs.
The Leafs netminder held the fort ahead of that breakthrough before the home side got its first chance on a William Nylander breakaway that Bobrovsky denied with his glove. Simon Benoit then fired just wide off the rush.
Toronto forward Scott Laughton hit the post a minute into the second, but it was all downhill from there.
Kulikov made it 2-0 at 6:08 when his point shot went off Laughton’s stick and beat Woll for his first.
Leafs star winger Mitch Marner — a pending unrestricted free agent July 1 — then flung a hopeful pass up the middle that Florida easily picked off in the neutral zone.
Reinhart quickly turned the other way and fed Boqvist, who was in the lineup for the injured Evan Rodrigues. Boqvist then tapped home his first goal since Jan. 25 after Marner didn’t pick up the forward on the rush at 10:05.
Mikkola made it 4-0 inside a stunned Scotiabank Arena at 14:01 when he blasted his first of the playoffs on a shot that Woll will want back.
Toronto head coach Craig Berube put his fourth line out to start the third period — a clear message to the team’s core of star forwards led by Marner, Nylander, Auston Matthews and John Tavares.
The Leafs got a power play, but another disjointed effort never threatened Bobrovsky.
Matthew Tkachuk hit the post on a Panthers’ man advantage at the other end before Greer made it 5-0 with his first at 6:23. At that point, a number of fans headed to the exits — and one tossed a Matthews jersey onto the ice.
Murray, who last made a playoff appearance in 2020 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, took over from there and allowed Florida’s sixth to Bennett on a power play at 9:09.
The battered and bruised Leafs, who got on the board with 66 seconds left in regulation when Robertson finally beat Bobrovsky, will now get on a plane Thursday with their backs against the wall.
Lineup decisions
Toronto made two changes up front, with Robertson and centre David Kampf drawing in. Calle Jarnkrok and Pontus Holmberg were scratched.
Boqvist subbed in for Rodrigues after he took a big hit in Game 4 — the play was whistled for interference — from Leafs defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Blind side
Aleksander Barkov, Florida’s captain and number one centre, was crushed from behind into the boards by Max Domi in the dying seconds of Game 4.
He was asked for his perspective on the hit Wednesday morning that resulted in a melee at the final buzzer and a $5,000 US fine for the Leafs forward.
“I didn’t see it,” Barkov said with a smile. “It’s playoff hockey, so things happen.”
