Mitch Marner scored the game-winning goal in the third period, William Nylander opened the scoring and the Toronto Maple Leafs staved off elimination, defeating the Florida Panthers 2-1 in Game 4 of their second-round series on Wednesday.
Joseph Woll made his first-ever postseason start, posting 24 saves including some big ones in tight. Woll replaced an injured Ilya Samsonov in Game 3 and made several saves to preserve the Maple Leafs’ tenuous lead during the third period in Game 4. He spent the majority of the season with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies and will remain the likely starter for the duration of the series.
Marner scored the game-winner, beating Sergei Bobrovsky from the point just past the 10-minute mark of the final frame. It was Marner’s third goal of the playoffs and a much-needed response from the Maple Leafs’ leading scorer during the regular season, coming off arguably the worst game of his career in Game 3.
Sam Reinhart cut Toronto’s lead to 2-1, scoring on the power play with assists from Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett. Florida pushed Toronto the edge right until the end, but Luke Schenn picked off Carter Verhaeghe in front of the net in the final minutes of the contest to hold as Toronto held on for the win.
Florida now leads the series Toronto 3-1 with Game 5 going Friday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
More to come.
