MIAMI _ Sergei Bobrovsky could only withstand the Toronto Maple Leafs for so long. When the Florida Panthers' offense vanished after the first period Thursday, Bobrovsky was the only one keeping them alive going to the third period of their biggest game of the season. The goaltender didn't crack when he faced 13 shots in the second period and didn't crack on either of the Maple Leafs' first two looks in the third.
He finally cracked the same way he often has throughout his first season with the Panthers. Bobrovsky stopped the first shot by Martin Marincin and a scramble broke out in front of the net. The puck sat in front of him for too long. Florida could never get it out. William Nylander wound up with a wide-open look at the net and squeezed the go-ahead goal past the 31-year-old netminder.
The Panthers, who hadn't scored since 7:24 remained in the first period, never managed to answer. In its most important game of the season so far, Florida fell to Toronto, 5-3, after being shut out for the final 47:24 and conceding an empty-net goal with 20.8 seconds left.
The loss drops the Panthers four points behind the Maple Leafs for third place _ and the final playoff spot_in the Atlantic Division. Florida also sits four points out of the second and final Wild Card spot. With 18 games to go, the Panthers postseason hopes are as dim as they've been all year.
For most of the first period, Florida played up to the moment. It was a playoff-type atmosphere in Sunrise as Toronto fans took over close to half of the crowd at the BB&T Center. Chants of "Let's go Panthers" and "Go Leafs go" drowned one other out any time one group of fans felt their team needed life.
By the end of the first , a full game's worth of activity had already played out in Florida. Attacking defenseman Mark Pysyk gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead in the first three minutes and Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman answered 69 seconds later. Florida rebuilt a 3-1 lead on goals by winger Mike Hoffman and center Noel Acciari, but let it all slip away in the last three minutes of the period.
The Panthers nearly survived a late penalty kill _ and even came centimeters away from scoring a shorthanded goal on a wraparound shot by winger Colton Sceviour _ but Toronto winger Kasperi Kapanen found the back of the net as soon as the power play ended to cut Florida's lead to 3-2. Just 1:15 later, the Maple Leafs tied the game when the Panthers couldn't clear the puck from behind the net and Auston Matthews wound up with a wide-open look at the net from the edge of the crease following a scramble in front of the goal.
The game was tied 3-3 going into the first intermission and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar capped the period by dropping Kapanen to the ice after a short fight.
Playoff hockey had come in February and Bobrovsky was ready to rise to the challenge.
The Maple Leafs dominated the Panthers throughout the second period. Florida managed to put just four shots on goal and withstood multiple six-minute droughts without putting anything on net. The Panthers got their first power play of the game with 3:36 left in the period and didn't generate a single chance while Toronto managed to get two two-on-one rushes for a pair of good looks on the other end. The Maple Leafs peppered Bobrovsky throughout and the superstar played up to his lofty reputation.
Bobrovsky stopped all 13 shots he faced in the period, including one sequence when he saved three in four seconds. It was the best chance in a period full of good ones for Toronto as Hyman forced a turnover and fed Mitchell Marner across the goal mouth. The Maple Leafs right winger fired a shot at goal and Bobrovsky kicked his legs to his left to knock the shot away. He cartwheeled back from his left to the other side of the net and got there in time to stop Marner's wraparound rebound chance, then stopped one more follow by Hyman to keep the game tied 3-3.
With 11 minutes left, Toronto finally broke the tie. Florida only managed 14 shots on goal after the opening period in its most devastating loss of the season.
