RECAP: Bobrovsky a brick wall as Panthers take Game 1 in Toronto

TORONTO -- Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves to lead the Panthers to a 4-2 win over the Maple Leafs in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

On top of his game, Bobrovsky's win was his fourth straight this postseason, which tied him with John Vanbiesbrouck for the longest playoff winning streak by a goalie in franchise history.

"He's been awesome," Panthers forward Nick Cousins said. "He's seeing the puck really well. He's playing with lots of confidence. The second period he kept us in it, and he made some really big saves in the third as well. I thought that he was our best player tonight."

Put to the test early in a tough opposing barn, the Panthers had to killed off a pair of penalties in the first seven minutes of the first period. Up to the challenge, they stifled both opportunities against Toronto's vaunted power play, including allowing just two shots on goal on the second look.

Feeding off those huge kills, and with the second line picking up right where it left off in Round 1, the Panthers opened the scoring soon after when Cousins followed up on a quick shot from Matthew Tkachuk and fired a shot past Ilya Samsonov to make it 1-0 at 9:25 of the first period.

In these playoffs, the Panthers own a 5-0 record when scoring first.

"It's huge, especially on the road," Cousins said of breaking the ice. "It kind of lets everyone settle in a little bit and take a deep breath. Their crowd is obviously into it and really excited. I thought the first period was probably our best period."

In the second period, Panthers doubled their lad when Sam Bennett parked in front of the net and tipped in a point shot from Aaron Ekblad to make it 2-0 at 7:58. But just 11 seconds later, rookie Matthew Knies answered with a highlight-reel goal to cut Toronto's deficit to 2-1 at 8:09.

At 14:51, Matthew Bunting tied the game for the Maple Leafs when he flew down the slot, collected a feed from Calle Jarnkrok and beat Bobrovsky off his backhand to make it 2-2.

Getting the lead back for the Panthers heading into the second intermission, Carter Verhaeghe, not too far removed from scoring the series-clinching goal against Boston, got behind Toronto's defense, took a dish from Anthony Duclair and buried a breakaway goal to make it 3-2 at 17:47.

"Duke made a great play to me," said Verhaeghe who now sits alone on the franchise's all-time playoff goals list with 11. "It's huge. Any time you can get a goal at the end of a period is huge. Instead of going in tied, you go up a goal. It kind of settles you down after the period and you take a deep breath. It was a big goal."

Taking his red-hot stick from Boston to Toronto, Brandon Montour kept up his scoring ways in the third period. After Tkachuk was tripped, Montour blasted a slap shot through traffic and past Samsonov on a delayed penalty to extend Florida's lead to 4-2 at 12:24.

Through eight playoff games, Montour has scored six goals.

Holding down the fort as the clock started to wind down, Bobrovsky put a bow on his spectacular performance by making nine saves over the last 2:30 of regulation, including robbing William Nylander of a goal with a stunning toe save.

After upsetting the 65-win Bruins in Round 1, the Panthers are just getting started.

"I thought we were good tonight. I didn't think we were great," said Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, who gave extra kudos to Bobrovsky for his stellar showing. "We went from such an extreme series in terms of physicality that I 'd say it was under-physical from what we were used to. They had a good pushback halfway through the game. We kind of got a little away from what we're good at, and they got closer to what they're good at. That'll be the battle in this series."

CATS QUOTES

"Our penalty kill was huge tonight. That's something we rely on. Special teams in the playoffs is huge."- Carter Verhaeghe

"We like our game right now. Playoffs, anything can happen. You say run, but everyone's on a run right now. We've still got a lot of hockey left. We're obviously happy with that win. That's one, but we need to get three more."- Brandon Montour

CATS NOTES

• With three assists, Tkachuk extended his point streak to five games.

• With two assists, Aleksander Barkov extended his point streak to four games.

• Tkachuk led the Panthers with nine hits.

• Barkov won a team-best 70.6% of his faceoffs.

• Since 2022, Verhaeghe leads the NHL with six game-winning goals in the playoffs.

• Montour's six goals are tied for the fourth-most by a defenseman through the first eight games of the playoffs in NHL history.

• Bennett has a point in six of seven games he's played in during these playoffs.

• Bobrovsky made 13 high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

• The Panthers controlled 80.77% of shot attempts when Bennett was on the ice at 5-on-5, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Panthers will look to steal another game on the road when they face off against the Maple Leafs in Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.

For watch party information, click Video: FLA@TOR, Gm1: Verhaeghe fires in a wrist shot.