Panthers Breeze Past Maple Leafs in Game 5, Take 3-2 Series Lead

TORONTO — Excitement that filled the streets of downtown Toronto and Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night ahead Game 5 between the Maple Leafs and Panthers turned to displeasure, boos and discarded jerseys by the end of the night after Florida shelled the home team 6-1 to take a 3-2 series lead back to Sunrise.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 of 31 shots faced as he lead Florida to a third straight win.

Aaron Ekblad opened the scoring party with 5:22 to go in the first period.

The Panthers “new” first line, with Jesper Boqvist drawing in for an injured Evan Rodrigues, were peppering goaltender Joseph Woll with an array of chances near their Maple Leafs net. Sam Reinhart popped a pass over to Ekblad, who roofed a top-shelf shot in to put Florida up 1-0.

“It felt important (to score first) because that game was really fast and well executed by both teams,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “Up and down the ice, there’s lots of really good execution in that for both teams. So to get the first one was important.”

Dmitry Kulikov doubled the Panthers’ lead 6:08 into the second — scoring his first goal of the playoffs after the defenseman’s point-shot deflected in off Scott Laughton’s stick into the Leaf’s net.

Florida silenced the Scotiabank Arena crowd when they took a 3-0 lead 10:05 into the middle frame after Boqvist scored his first goal of the postseason — giving the road team a three-goal cushion.

“It was a good opportunity for me, I enjoyed every second of it” Boqvist said about playing on the top line. “Obviously it helped playing with two of the best players in the world. I just tried to move my feet and go to the net.”

The Panthers second period onslaught continued when Niko Mikkola became the third defenseman to score in the game with his first goal of the playoffs 14:00 into the second.

“I was happy for those guys, and for sure it was nice to get one,” Mikkola said about three defenseman scoring. “A little pride for me, but the most important thing is the team is winning.”

After putting four into the Toronto net after two periods of play, the Panthers didn’t slow down their push in final period of regulation.

A.J. Greer became the 17th different Panther to score this postseason after he scored 6:23 in the third to make it 5-0.

Toronto made a goalie change after the fifth goal, putting Matt Murray in for Woll — who allowed five goals on 20 shots.

Sam Bennett made it 6-0 on the power play, scoring on Murray less than three minutes after the Leafs’ backup goalie entered the game.

The Leafs would get on the board  in the final minutes of the game to end Bobrovsky’s shutout streak — which started midway through Game 3 — at 147 minutes and 58 seconds.

“It’s a team sport,” Bobrovsky said when asked about his stellar play over the shutout stretch. “Everybody played hard in front of me and yea, there’s some good moments.”

Florida will try to close out the series at home and punch their ticket to a third-consecutive Eastern Conference Finals in Game 6 on Friday night at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise.

“We’re just focused on one at a time,” Sam Reinhart said when asked about Friday’s potential series clincher. “You know now we’re still recovering and getting ready for the next one. Get back home and get in front of our friends and family again.”