Panthers Defeat Maple Leafs in Game 4, Series Tied at 2-2

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers erased a 2-0 series deficit at home after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 in Game 4 of its second-round series at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday night.

Sam Bennett had the game-winning goal and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 21 shots he faced in a shutout effort for the Panthers.

Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll was the main reason why Toronto trailed by just one goal for most of the game. The 26-year-old had 35 saves in the loss.

On their fourth power play of the first period, Florida finally broke open the scoring.

Matthew Tkachuk fired a pass across the slot to Carter Verhaeghe, who buried a one-timer past Woll, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead with 4:20 to go in the opening period.

In the first three games of the series, Florida strayed away from the style of hockey they play best — a heavy, grind-it-out forechecking game.

The approach reverted back to the Panthers of old on Sunday night. Florida focused their offense around getting pucks deep and playing physical down low. The result was Sergei Bobrovsky seeing just 13 shots in the first two periods of play.

Still holding just a one-goal lead late in the third, Sam Bennett bursted through the neutral-zone and deked out Woll before scoring his fifth goal of the postseason to put the Panthers up 2-0.

Now tied at 2-2 after both teams defended home-ice, the series transitions back to Toronto.

Game 5 will be at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena.