The Florida Panthers are one win away from making the Eastern Conference Final for a third straight year. After winning Games 3 and 4 in Sunrise, the Cats did what they were supposed to do behind enemy lines. In the pivotal Game 5, Florida embarrassed the Maple Leafs in Scotiabank Arena. The visitors quickly silenced the Toronto partisans and ran away with a blowout 6-1 victory.
Aaron Ekblad got the scoring started by roofing a shot over the shoulder of Joseph Woll. In the second period, Dmitry Kulikov, Jesper Boqvist, and Niko Mikkola scored goals to give the Cats a 4-0 lead. The contest was practically over at that point. A.J. Greer and Sam Bennett tallied in the third period as well.
Sergei Bobrovsky nearly pitched back-to-back shutouts. Despite Nicolas Robertson giving the Leafs a garbage-time goal at the 18:54 mark of the third period, the Russian goaltender stopped 31 Toronto shots. The Panthers only racked up a total of 14 turnovers between takeaways and giveaways. Now, heading back home, Florida looks to finish the Leafs off for the second time in three years.
How to watch Panthers vs. Maple Leafs, Game 6
Date: Friday, May 16 Time: 8:00 PM ET Venue: Amerant Bank Arena TV: TNT, Tru TV, MAX Florida leads series 3-2
Panthers vs. Maple Leafs Odds, Spreads, and Total
Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
Puck Line
Florida -1.5 (+114) Toronto +1.5 (-135)
Total
5.5 (over -115/ under -105)
Moneyline
Florida -238 Toronto +195
Florida Panthers Injury Report
Evan Rodrigues, W/C: Day-To-Day (Head)
Toronto Maple Leafs Injury Report
Anthony Stolarz, G: Out (Head); Jani Hakanpaa, D: IR-LT (Knee)
Florida Panthers Projected Lines
- Jesper Boqvist- Aleksander Barkov- Sam Reinhart
- Carter Verhaeghe- Sam Bennett- Matthew Tkachuk
- Eetu Luostarinen- Anton Lundell- Brad Marchand
- A.J. Greer- Tomas Nosek- Jonah Gadjovich
- Gustav Forsling- Aaron Ekblad
- Niko Mikkola- Seth Jones
- Nate Schmidt- Dmitry Kulikov
- Sergei Bobrovsky
- Vitek Vanacek
Scratches: Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
- Matthew Knies- Auston Matthews- Mitch Marner
- Max Pacioretty- John Tavares- William Nylander
- Bobby McMann- Max Domi- Nicholas Robertson
- Scott Laughton- David Kampf- Steven Lorentz
- Jake McCabe- Chris Tanev
- Morgan Rielly- Brandon Carlo
- Simon Benoit- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
- Joseph Woll
- Matt Murray
Scratches: Pontus Holmberg, Calle Jarnkrok
Panthers Keys To the Game
If you're a hockey enthusiast, we are sure you've heard that line before. Does Herb Brooks standing on the bench during the 1980 Winter Olympics ring a bell? Well, it should. That is what the Panthers have to do to clinch the series. This shouldn't be much of a concern for Panthers fans. The team has done that since the middle of Game 3.
Toronto has had no answers when Florida reverted to their classic form. Keep two men back at all times. Win board battles. Get in the passing lanes and create turnovers. Suffocate the Leafs to the point where they struggle to enter the offensive zone. Enforce the strength and will on them. Establish zone time. You all know the drill. If the team sticks to the game plan, they'll be fine
The goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky has been red-hot over the last few games. In Game 4, he recorded a 23-save shutout, his second of the 2025 postseason. In Game 5, he nearly did it again. Only a late, useless late goal by Nicolas Robertson prevented that. However, he's been stupendous after being average at best during the first three games.
He hasn't needed to make many clutch saves over the last few games. Toronto hasn't been able to generate many high-danger chances. However, when they have, Bob's been there. His crazy, 'Superman' heroics shouldn't be needed if the defense continues to do its thing. However, facing elimination, you have to expect the Leafs to come out with desperation. Bobby needs to shut them down.
Coaches have said to their players in the past not to rack up 20 turnovers. Over the last two games, the Panthers have been able to stay under that. In Game 4, Florida only committed 16 total turnovers, 13 of those being giveaways. In Game 5, it was even better. The Cats only coughed up the puck 14 times. They haven't been making many sloppy mistakes like we saw earlier in the series. This pales in comparison to the opposition.
Are you serious, Mitch? A spin-o-rama pass intended towards the middle of the neutral zone while you're down two? Abysmal play and mistakes have been taken advantage of by Florida. In Game 5 alone, Toronto racked up 26 turnovers. It's self-explanatory. Don't give the puck away. Take care of it, and then be aggressive in making them give it away. Win this battle and they'll be in great shape.
Notes:
- When a best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 holds an all-time series record of 237-62 (.793).
- The Panthers have eight goals by defensemen this postseason, which is tied with the Maple Leafs and Hurricanes for the most among all teams. During their Stanley Cup run in 2024, they had 12 tallies from their blueliners.
- Dmitry Kulikov scored to put the Panthers up 2-0 in Game 5. The 2025 postseason has seen 68 goals scored by defensemen, which is the third most through this stage of a postseason (64 GP) over the past 30 years behind 1995 (73) and 2014 (69).
- Matthew Tkachuk became the ninth-fastest U.S.-born player in NHL history to 70 career playoff points (81 GP), trailing only Brian Leetch(54 GP), Kevin Stevens(56 GP), Craig Janney(65 GP), Jake Guentzel(72 GP), Patrick Kane(73 GP), Joe Mullen(73 GP), Jeremy Roenick(76 GP) and Phil Kessel(77 GP).
- Niko Mikkola became the third Panthers defenseman to score in Game 5 against the Maple Leafs. The only other time Florida has had three or more blueliners each score in a playoff game was Game 3 of the 2012 Conference Quarterfinals against the New Jersey Devils (Brian Campbell, Jason Garrison, and Mike Weaver).
- The Panthers scored seven consecutive goals in the postseason for the second time in franchise history, following 10 straight from Game 2 to 3 of the Second Round of the 2024 postseason, against the Bruins.
- A.J. Greer scored his first career playoff goal in Game 5 and became the 17th Panthers skater to find the back of the net this postseason. It marked the first time in over 30 years that a team had 17 unique goal scorers through its first 10 games of a postseason. The last team to do so was the 1993 Los Angeles Kings.
- The Panthers own an all-time series record of 5-1 (.833) when leading 3-2 in a best-of-seven playoff series. They own a Game 6 record of 4-2 when in this situation and a 2-2 record when the game is at home.
- Sergei Bobrovsky established a franchise record for longest playoff shutout sequence (143:25 dating to Game 3), eclipsing John Vanbiesbrouck (141:31) in Games 3 and 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup Final against the Colorado Avalanche.