Maple Leafs have little response in discouraging loss to Panthers

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If that was just like a playoff game, the Maple Leafs aren’t quite ready yet.

The Leafs didn’t have much of an answer for the tight-checking Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, losing 3-1 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla.

In a game with little space, the Leafs were outshot 37-18 and failed to get much on Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

Carter Verhaeghe scored into an empty Leafs net in the final minute.

Leafs captain Auston Matthews, for example, was in danger of being held without a shot on goal for just the seventh time in his NHL career when he tested Bobrovsky with 5 1/2 minutes left in the third period.

The Leafs’ four-game winning streak ended, while the Panthers ended a five-game winless streak.

Toronto’s visit to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning on Wednesday now has greater implications in the race for first place in the Atlantic Division. If the Lightning beats the Leafs in regulation, it will be tied with the Leafs with 98 points. Going in, both teams have five games remaining.

And the Panthers are lurking in third with 94 points.

Eetu Luostarinen scored the winning goal at 1:04 of the third when he beat goalie Joseph Woll from the edge of the crease. The puck popped off the stick of Morgan Rielly, who was behind the net, to Luostarinen, and Brandon Carlo could not keep the Panther in check.

John Tavares scored his 37th goal at 1:06 of the second period when his shot went off the stick of Panthers defenceman Nate Schmidt and past Bobrovsky. Tavares has 10 goals in his past nine games.

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The Leafs had to be thankful they were down by just one goal as the horn sounded to end the first period.

The Florida goal wasn’t a good look for Tavares, who lost a faceoff to Anton Lundell, or for Woll, who had a clean look at a shot by Gustav Forsling but did nothing more than wave at the puck as it got past him.

The Panthers goal came at 9:26. Not only did Florida outshoot Toronto 14-5 in the opening 20 minutes, it had 27 attempts to the visitors’ nine.

Woll recovered from the soft Forsling goal, making a number of big saves in the second period to give the Leafs a chance at victory heading into the third.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun