TORONTO – Sam Bennett scored two power-play goals to lift the shorthanded Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers to a 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
Bennett’s offence gave the Atlantic Division-leading Panthers (41-22-3) with their seventh win in eight outings, while the second-place Maple Leafs (39-23-3) lost for the fourth time in five games.
Florida increased its lead over Toronto to four points, but the Maple Leafs have a game in hand.
Defenceman Niko Mikkola scored the Panthers’ other goal.
John Tavares, with his 27th, and Max Domi replied for Toronto.
The Panthers were without Matthew Tkachuk (lower-body), newcomer Brad Marchand (upper-body) and defenceman Aaron Ekblad (suspension).
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Shots on goal were 25-25 before 19,201 at Scotiabank Arena. Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz lost for the second time in two starts against his former club this season.
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Domi caught the Panthers on a bad line change to pull the Maple Leafs within 3-2, 4:26 into the final period. But Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky shut down the home side the rest of the way.
The Maple Leafs scored first with an early goal from Tavares, who converted a nifty pass from Michael Nylander. But Bennett tied the game from in-close before the end of the opening period.
Mikkola and Bennett scored in the second period.
Takeaways
Maple Leafs: Veteran defenceman Chris Tanev (upper-body) returned to action after a six-game absence.
Panthers: Captain Alexsander Barkov, Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, and members of the Panthers management presented a Stanley Cup replica ring to the Hockey Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Wednesday.
Key moment
With the game tied 1-1, the Panthers killed off two penalties in the first 10 minutes of the second period and then scored twice 3:17 apart to snatch a two-goal lead before the second intermission.
Key stat
Until Florida’s win, which put them four points ahead of the second-place Maple Leafs, first and second in the Atlantic Division had been separated by two points or fewer for the last 103 days.
Up next
The Maple Leafs play the second of their four-game homestand against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
Florida makes the third stop of its six-game trip against the Montreal Canadiens, also on Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2025.