Nylander powers Leafs over Panthers in Game 1 as Toronto loses Stolarz to injury

Joshua Clipperton · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 05, 2025 11:31 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

William Nylander got the Maple Leafs disconnected to a flying commencement successful the 2nd circular of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The prima winger scored doubly successful the archetypal play earlier adding an assistance arsenic Toronto built a large pb aboriginal earlier holding connected precocious to down the Florida Panthers 5-4 and instrumentality Game 1 connected Monday night.

Matthew Knies and Chris Tanev, with a extremity and an assistance each, and Morgan Rielly provided the remainder of the offence for the Leafs, who got 8 saves from Anthony Stolarz earlier helium near with an undisclosed wounded successful the 2nd period.

Joseph Woll stopped 17 shots successful relief. Max Pacioretty and Jake McCabe added 2 assists apiece to unfastened the teams' best-of-seven series.

Seth Jones, Eetu Luostarinen, Uvis Balinskis and Sam Bennett replied for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 shots for the defending champs. Brad Marchand and Carter Verhaeghe had 2 assists each.

Florida bushed Toronto successful 5 games astatine the aforesaid signifier of the 2023 post-season connected the mode to making the Cup final. The Panthers went 1 measurement further 12 months aboriginal erstwhile they hoisted hockey's Holy Grail for the archetypal clip successful franchise history.

Game 2 goes Wednesday backmost astatine Scotiabank Arena. The matchup of Atlantic Division heavyweights past shifts to South Florida.

Toronto opened the scoring wrong a rocking rink conscionable 33 seconds aft puck driblet erstwhile Nylander bushed Bobrovsky done the five-hole from a choky space for his 4th extremity of the playoffs.

The Leafs, who bushed the Ottawa Senators 4-2 successful the archetypal circular to registry conscionable the 2nd bid triumph for the Original Six franchise successful much than 2 decades, went up 2-0 astatine 12:51 erstwhile Nylander scooped up a large Bobrovsky rebound earlier deking the goaltender to the crystal and roofing his 2nd of the period.

Jones got the visitors connected the committee with a changeable from the constituent done postulation connected a powerfulness play astatine 16:57 for his 2nd aft Toronto was whistled for excessively galore men.

But the location broadside restored its two-goal pb conscionable 19 seconds aboriginal erstwhile Nylander sent Rielly disconnected to the races connected a 2-on-1 with John Tavares. The defenceman and longest serving subordinate of the existent roster looked Bobrovsky disconnected earlier firing past the netminder's blocker for his 3rd of the post-season.

Florida, which bushed the Tampa Bay Lightning successful 5 games to advance, got a antheral vantage successful the 2nd that saw Stolarz marque a mates of stops, but Bennett caught him with a sneaky elbow to the backmost of the head.

Toronto made it 4-1 astatine 7:50 erstwhile Tanev's knuckling changeable from region fooled Bobrovsky for his first.

Stolarz, who backed up Bobrovsky connected the mode to Florida's Cup win, was caught by tv cameras vomiting by the seat a fewer minutes aboriginal earlier getting replaced by Woll.

Nylander had a accidental to implicit the archetypal playoff chapeau instrumentality of his vocation connected a changeable that knocked the instrumentality retired of Bobrovsky's manus that stayed retired arsenic the Leafs headed to the locker country up three.

But Luostarinen chopped the shortage backmost to 2 connected a redirection 1:41 into the last play with his second. Balinskis past made it 4-3 astatine 4:30 with his archetypal aft a Panthers propulsion wrong a abruptly tense building.

Toronto failed to link connected 2 powerfulness plays aboriginal successful 3rd earlier Bobrovsky denied Max Domi connected a break.

Knies made it 5-3 with six minutes near successful regularisation with a determination to the backhand connected different breakaway for his fourth.

Florida wouldn't spell away, and Bennett got his squad backmost wrong 1 with 1:55 near successful regularisation connected a pinballed changeable disconnected a Toronto instrumentality for his fourth, but Woll and the Leafs held the fort precocious to unafraid an aboriginal pb successful the series.

Ekblad out

The Panthers were without defenceman Aaron Ekblad, who finished disconnected a two-game suspension for his headshot connected Tampa guardant Brandon Hagel successful the opening round.

New addition

Leafs winger Mitch Marner, who turned 28 connected Monday, and woman Stephanie welcomed the couple's archetypal kid implicit the weekend.

Starting strong

Game 1 winners successful a best-of-seven ain an all-time bid grounds of 531-249 (. 681), including 6-2 successful the archetypal circular this spring.

Familiar faces

The Leafs person 3 players from the Panthers' title squad -- Stolarz, defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Steven Lorentz.

Ekman-Larsson was asked astir his clip with quick-witted Florida caput manager Paul Maurice earlier Game 1.

"A batch of amusive quotes, precise astute man," said the blueliner. "I had a blast."