Toronto Maple Leafs Win 2-1 Over Florida Panthers In Game 4 To Avoid Elimination

(CTN News) – It was a 2-1 Toronto Maple Leafs victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Wednesday, as Joseph Woll stopped 24 shots. A goal was scored by Mitch Marner and a goal was scored by William Nylander.

It was Nylander who scored on the power play after an odd bounce early in the second period, Marner who scored midway through the third period, and Woll who played the rest of the game as he took the place of injured starter Ilya Samsonov.

The Florida Panthers were led by a goal from Sam Reinhart, which was assisted by the 23 saves Sergei Bobrovsky made. Game 5 will be played on Friday night in Toronto, where the Panthers remain in the lead 3-1 in the series.

Woll, who turns 25 on July 12, was seeking to become the youngest Toronto goalie to have a playoff shutout since Felix Potvin, then 23, stopped 42 shots to beat Chicago 3-0 on May 9, 1995.

In the end, he was 7:47 away from completing the task.

On the power play, Reinhart – who scored the game-winner in OT in Game 3 – managed to get the puck through Woll’s leg pads for a 2-1 Toronto lead.

A fitting name for Nylander was KNEE-lander, as his surname is pronounced KNEE-lander.

From the late second period of Game 2 until early in the third period, Toronto went more than five full periods without a power play. Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen was called for high-sticking the Leafs’ Michael Bunting.

Thanks to the hockey gods who oversee the crazy bounces, they cashed in.

When Bunting tried to dump the puck around the net from the right-wing boards, it bounced off the knee of referee Jon McIsaac. Nylander knocked it past Bobrovsky for a 1-0 Toronto lead after the puck had skipped to the front of the net.

Nylander, Matthews, Tavares and Marner each scored their first goal of the series.

As the third period began, the score remained 1-0, although Toronto had a good opportunity to increase its lead in the final seconds of the second period. Bobrovsky denied Tavares’ breakaway attempt to keep Florida within one goal as he got loose down the center of the ice.

The Leafs held on to make it 2-0 when Marner scored with 9:57 remaining. In a best-of-five series against the Minnesota North Stars in 1980, they were swept, and in a best-of-seven, Montreal eliminated them in four games in 1979.

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