Panthers Falter Early, Fall Just Short in Game One Loss to Maple Leafs

The Florida Panthers’ second-round playoff series didn’t begin the way they had hoped. In fact, it couldn’t have started much worse. Just 33 seconds into Game 1, Toronto’s William Nylander zipped a screened wrister past Sergei Bobrovsky, and before the Panthers could even find their legs, they were playing catch-up.

That opening shift set the tone for a disjointed first period where Florida struggled with puck control, failed to sustain offensive pressure, and watched the Leafs convert on key mistakes. Nylander wasn’t done — he added a second goal midway through the first and later assisted on a Morgan Rielly tally that came just 19 seconds after Seth Jones had briefly breathed life into the Cats with a power-play score. The opening frame ended with Florida down 3-1 and visibly shaken.

“We knew they’d come out hard,” said Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov. “But we still didn’t handle it the way we needed to. That’s on us.”

The second period brought more misfortune. Chris Tanev added to Toronto’s lead with a point shot, and emotions ran high after a controversial collision between Sam Bennett and Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz. Bennett’s forearm clipped Stolarz in the head during a net-front scramble. No penalty was assessed, but the hit left Stolarz shaken. He was pulled shortly after, exhibiting concussion symptoms and ultimately being taken to the hospital. Toronto coach Craig Berube was livid postgame, calling it “an elbow to the head, clear as day.” Panthers coach Paul Maurice deferred to the officials, saying, “The referee was right there. He saw it better than I did.”

Despite the early chaos, Florida showed resolve. Down 4-1 entering the third, they clawed back into the fight. Eetu Luostarinen and Uvis Balinskis scored just minutes apart to bring the Panthers within one. The penalty kill, a bright spot all night, came up big twice in the final period, keeping Toronto’s dangerous power play scoreless on five attempts.

But just as momentum began tilting toward Florida, Matthew Knies broke free and buried a breakaway chance with six minutes remaining — a gut punch for the Panthers, who had been surging. Bennett’s goal with 1:55 left gave Florida one last hope, but the comeback fell just short.

Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots in a game where he was peppered with high-danger looks early. His counterpart, Joseph Woll, who replaced the injured Stolarz, turned away 17 of 20 shots and earned the win in relief.

The loss stings, but it’s not season-defining — not yet. The Panthers know they have to be better from the first drop of the puck.

“That wasn’t us in the first,” Maurice said. “We looked more like ourselves in the second and third. We’ll carry that into Game 2.”

They’ll need to. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Toronto, and if the Cats want to flip the script, they’ll have to find their bite from the opening whistle — not chase it.

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