Florida Panthers beat Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 4 to turn series into a best-of-3
Last updated May 12, 2025 10:40
The Florida Panthers won Game 4 2–0 to even the series at two games apiece, heading back to Toronto for Game 5 on Wednesday night. Even though it wasn’t the Leafs best game tonight, there’s still no need to panic. There are worse positions to be in than tied with two potential games at home.
When any team loses, people can go problem hunting and look for things that went wrong, but in this game, it was two good teams going at it, and the Panthers were the better team. It felt like the Maple Leafs had an average game, and the Panthers were at a level the Leafs couldn’t match.However, the good news is the Leafs are now in a best-of-three series with two games at home. If they play the way they’re capable of, the Leafs have as good a chance as Florida to go to the Conference Finals.
Game Recap
In all honesty, this game shouldn’t have been as close as it was. Shots were 15–4 in the first period, and Florida had four power play,s scoring on one of them courtesy of former Leafs draft pick, Carter Verhaeghe.
Even though the Leafs spent the majority of the first period in their own zone, Joseph Woll managed to keep them in the game, making 14 of his 35 saves in the first. It felt like the Panthers could have buried the Leafs at times in the first period.
Bob is back!
Bobrovsky has a reputation for bailing his team out, and that was no exception tonight. Even though the Panthers outshot the Leafs 37 to 23, Bobrovsky had to make a few huge saves to complete his shutout.
On the other hand, this was the first time Woll gave up fewer than three goals in a playoff game. Woll was great tonight, but it may have been a missed opportunity for the Leafs. Ever since the injury to Anthony Stolarz in Game 1, Woll has taken the challenge. After giving up five goals in Game 3 with some unlucky bounces to go with them, he gave the Leafs a chance to win tonight.
Both teams are known for playing a tight defensive game, not giving up many odd-man rushes. Ironically, the Panthers insurance goal by Sam Bennett came on an odd-man rush. A big thing that Craig Berube emphasizes is his team’s response when things go wrong. Coming off of two consecutive losses, it’ll be interesting to see how the Leafs respond to some adversity.
We knew this series was going to be a battle; Florida is the defending Stanley Cup champions for a reason. One of the best things about the playoffs is that anybody can beat anybody, and no one thought this series was going to be a walk in the park.
Toronto maple Leafs started on their heels in Game 4, and it ended up costing them the game with a penalty from Max Domi for high-sticking just 2:04 in, and the penalties continued. With two seconds left in a hooking penalty to Matthew Knies, Oliver Ekman-Larsson took a delay of game penalty, which led to the Verhaeghe goal.
What’s next?
The Panthers are gaining momentum heading into Game 5 and look to be an entirely different team than we saw through the first two games. Having said that, the Leafs haven’t played poorly by any stretch.
In nine playoff games against Florida, Matthews has zero goals. John Tavares missed a very good scoring chance right at the end. Knies missed high on a breakaway, and was the victim of a point-blank save by Bobrovsky that could’ve tied the game. Even though the offence wasn’t there in Game 4, the Leafs are getting their chances. They just have to start putting them in the net again.
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