In Sunrise, Sam Reinhart’s goal at :07 of extra time gave the Panthers a 3-2 win Sunday over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3 of their second round series.
Reinhart scored on a wrap around after receiving the puck behind the Maple Leafs cage.
“Really happy for him,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of Reinhart. “He’s a high-end player that accepts what you might call a third-line role happily. Developed two young players with him, no ego, never once talked about ice time this year. You like those guys to get a payoff.”
Anton Lundell fed Reinhart for the winner from the left boards.
The Panthers now hold a 3-0 lead in the series.
The two teams traded goals for the first two periods before settling into a back and forth match in the third.
“It [stinks], obviously, but we’ve got to forget about it quickly,” Toronto forward Mitchell Marner said. “… We have to know that it’s do-or-die. Just take it a game at a time and make sure we know that and be ready for it.”
Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves for the win.
Game is set for Sunrise on Wednesday. .
The Maple Leafs are now in a world of hurt trailing the Panthers by three games, and showing no signs of having answers to the Florida enthusiasm and free wheeling play.
Sam Lafferty scored his first of the post season at 2:26 of the first period to give the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lad.
“Florida played hard today,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “They defended the middle of the ice well. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for our guys there. In the first five minutes, we had three or four odd-man rushes out of that, and I liked the way we started the game that way. Obviously, it got Florida’s attention on it, and they plugged it up pretty good after that.”
Anthony Duclair scored off a breakout pass that he collected at the Toronto blue line and deked his way to a 1-1 tie off the power play at 2:36 of the middle stanza.
“I think you look at their game plan, they came out really fast and tried to spread this out a little bit,” Reinhart said. “And once you kind of realize that, we both know how we’re going to play at the end of the day.
“But I think we tightened up a little bit, started getting above the puck a little bit more and just trying to make it as hard as possible on their guys, because they’ve got a lot of skill over there.”
The Maple Leafs reclaimed the lead at  of the second period on a goal from Erik Gustafsson.
Carter Verhaeghe used his backside to deflect a shot from the point by Radko Gudas to tie the game, 2-2, for the Panthers, at 12:28 of the second.
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Joseph Woll made 18 saves for the Maple Leafs after coming to the game in the first minute of the second period.
Florida’s Luke Schenn collided with Ilya Samsonov, who made eight saves, before departing the game at 37 seconds of the second.
“The first thing I’m thinking about is hoping Samsonov is not hurt too bad,” Woll said. “Hope for the best for him. After that it was focusing and try to get to the place I need to be mentally, and I think I did a good job of that in settling in.”
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