Maple Leafs lead Panthers through two periods in Game 2
Published
The Toronto Maple Leafs lead the Florida Panthers 1-0 through the first two periods of Game 4 as they look to avoid elimination Wednesday night.
Florida leads the best-of-seven series 3-0 and can advance to the Eastern Conference Final with a victory.
William Nylander opened the scoring early in the second period when he jammed one home on the power play, which was Toronto's first since the second period of Game 2. Eetu Luostarinen took a high-sticking penalty that led to the man-advantage for the Leafs. Aleksander Barkov was also handed a high-sticking penalty later in the period, but the Leafs were unable to convert a second time.
Joseph Woll got the start in net for Toronto Wednesday night after Ilya Samsonov left injured in Game 3. Woll has turned aside all 16 Panthers' attempts through the opening 40 minutes.
Sergei Bobrovsky has stopped 19 of 20 shots fired his way.
After winning their first playoff series since 2004 in six games against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round, the Leafs fell into an 0-3 hole and haven’t scored more than two goals in a game since April 24.
Toronto had the chance to cut into the series deficit Sunday night but Sam Reinhart scored the overtime winner as the Panthers pushed the Maple Leafs to the brink of elimination.
If necessary, Game 5 will go Friday night from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.