Florida Panthers Destroy Toronto Maple Leafs 7-2
The Florida Panthers decided to play their best game of the season, with 14 games remaining. Going into the game, the Cats knew this was a must win, in order to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The game couldn’t have started off any better, as the Florida Panthers were dominating on the fore-check, in the Maple Leafs zone. 18 seconds into the first period, Aleksander Barkov received a cross ice pass from Jonathan Huberdeau, and tapped it home to give the Cats a 1-0 lead. The pressure did not stop there!
Ten minutes after Barkov’s goal,
blows by
(who blew a tire), and rushes down the ice to pop home a short-handed goal for the Cats. Lets relive a beautiful play by Colton Sceviour. Assists were given to
and
.
Shortly after that, Leo Komarov scored to cut the lead down to one for the Leafs. The goal came off a bad turnover by Mark Pysyk. Not long after the leaf goal, the Panthers got a goal right back very quickly. As Marchessault received a drop pass from Vanek, he released a quick snap shot, which found its way past Andersen. The first period ended at 3-1 in favor for the Cats, and Andersen was pulled in result.
To start the second, the Panthers got off to another great start in the opening five minutes of play. Jonathan Marchessault scored his 22nd of the year, off a passing play from Barkov and Vanek. It was 4-1 at that point, and the Cats didn’t stop scoring, as they applied more pressure as the game went on.
Twelve minutes after Marchessault’s second goal, Reilly Smith added to the scoreboard, after picking up his own rebound in front of the net. As we all know, Smith has struggled to find the net recently. It was great to see him finally score after that long goalless drought. Not to long after Smith’s goal, Soshnikov roofed a backhand to cut the lead down to 3. It seemed as if the Panthers were going to collapse after the goal. That certainly wasn’t the case tonight!
A minute after Soshnikov’s goal,
buries a nice feed from Vanek and
. A nice tic-tac-toe play leads to Jokinen’s goal. The score was 6-2 after the goal was scored, and it looked as if the Panthers would run away with the game.
After the conclusion of the 2nd period, the Cats added some salt to the wound, as Keith Yandle scored his 4th goal of the season, to give the Florida Panthers a 7-2 lead. Yandle’s goal would eventually be the last goal scored in tonight’s game.
After tonight’s crucial victory, the players knew they had to win this game in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. Any loss of some kind would have realistically signaled an end to the season for the Cats. As the Panthers gain some confidence out of this game, they must remember to take each game at a time. A lot of work is still yet to be done, with 14 games remaining. These last 14 games will be up to the players, on where their destiny lies..
The Cats head back on the road to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets in Columbus. This game will be another crucial game for the Panthers. Each game as this point must be no less than 2 points for the Panthers. This upcoming road trip will indicate whether or not the Florida Panthers have a chance at making the playoffs.