SUMMARY
The Toronto Maple Leafs took a first step towards redemption on Monday evening, when they removed 5 to 4 the honors of the first duel of their series against the Panthers of Florida.
Toronto struck early at the start of this second -round confrontation, mainly thanks to the brilliance of William Nylander, who opened the brand from the 33rd second of play.
The Swedish brought to the left of Sergei Bobrovsky and took advantage of heavy traffic in front of his cage to uncheck a launch of the wrists which made its way between the leggings of the porter of the Panthers.
It was the fourth goal of the present series of Nylander, which was not going to stop there.
Toronto’s No. 88 has doubled the priority of his club at 12:51 of the first twenty, recovering in the heart of the enclave a return from launch of Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
On the sequence, Max Pacioretty provided his second mention of help from the evening.
The American has been doing very well since he was raised in the second trio of the Leafs, alongside John Tavares and Nylander.
“We were late on all our actions. They were very good at the start, “said the veteran Head coach Paul Maurice.
The reason for this mediocre start to the match according to Maurice? “” Le coaching. »
Before the end of the first commitment, visitors signed up for the scoring sheet when they benefited from a second digital advantage.
Matthew Tkachuk sent the puck to the tip to Seth Jones, and the latter set off a wrist shot that left Anthony Stolarz no chance.
But the Toronto reply only required 19 seconds: on the next game sequence, Nylander – still him – spotted Morgan Rielly alone in neutral zone, and the latter took advantage of a descent to two against one to deceive Bobrovsky’s vigilance.
“It was a good start to the meeting, that’s for sure, but then there were ups and downs. They got back in the match, but we fought and we got this first victory, “said Nylander.
After a second without goal, visitors relaunched the suspense early to the last third when Etu Luostarinen put on the needle after 1:39 of play.
The panthers seemed to be whipped by this rapid goal, and Uvis Balinskis followed the plunge, 2:51 after the fillet of Lostarinen.
Suddenly, the concern won the Scotiabank Arena, and the head coach Craig Berube called a dead time to help his troops find a capacity.
The reigning champions have never stopped applying pressure on the cage of Joseph Woll, but it has been absorbed when Matthew Knies escaped and he served a superb backhoe shot in Bobrovksy at exactly six minutes from the end of regulation time, a restaurant of two goals.
“The overall game [de Knies] has progressed a lot this year. There was a threat to the ice rink, making games everywhere. It is strong on the washer and performs important games for us, like this goal, ”observed Nylander.
-With 1:55 to do, Sam Bennett put on his fourth goal from the spring calendar, and once again, the territory of the Leafs was besieged.
Captain Auston Matthews missed a glorious chance of scoring the goal of insurance in the last minute, but the Torontais ultimately did not pay for this lack of opportunism.
Stolarz leaves after being hung
Less Leafs will have the state of health of their goalkeeper No. 1 Anthony Stolarz, who was forced to leave in the second twenty, probably the result of an unpunished nudder that the fiery Bennett brought him.
During a power game of the Floridians, Bennett wanted to position itself near the semicircle of Stolarz, and by approaching the cage of the Leafs, its elbow gave against the mask of the latter.
The porter of Toronto remained in the meeting initially, but during an advertising break, he made his way to the locker room, leaving the net to Woll, who had not kept the goals since April 17.
Before his departure, Stolarz was seen vomiting in a receptacle near the Leafs bench.
Head coach Craig Berube did not want to go through four paths to describe Bennett’s intentions on the sequence.
“It was an obvious headlift. It doesn’t give way to doubt, ”he argued.
“It’s something, going from being a spectator to be in the heat of a series match,” admitted Woll, who conceded three goals on 20 shots in succession. “I did my best in my preparation to be arranged at this kind of moment. I tried to bring the sensations back. »»
“I have no news of [Stolarz]but certainly, he was not going to look very well, “added Woll.
Bennett did not address the media representatives after match No. 1, and his instructor Maurice was stingy with comments about the sequence that led from Stolarz.
” YOU [les journalistes] Go do your business, and the league will make it. As for me, I will run the next match. At least we wish ourselves … You never know after a start like this, “he quipped.
The 31 -year -old American goalkeeper had recorded the four victories of his club during the first series won against the Ottawa senators.
Available for this match even if he was not in uniform a prioriDennis Hildeby brought back in time for the last 20 minutes of the confrontation.
Defender Aaron Ekblad would serve the second match of a suspension of which he received for a blow brought to the head of his Rival of the Lightning of Tampa Bay Brandon Hagel.
Two years ago, in the spring of 2023, the panthers had only needed five games to eliminate the leafs at this same stage.
Last year, the Floridian formation raised the Hockey Holy Grail for the first time in its history by eliminating the EDMONTON Oilers in seven games in the final.
The second match in this series will take place on Wednesday evening, in Toronto. The two teams will then compete in Sunrise for the following two duels.
