3 Takeaways From The Florida Panthers & Toronto Maple Leafs Game 5 | 05/14/2025

The mission was to go into Toronto and get the win to take a 3-2 series lead. The Panthers accomplished this mission well on Wednesday night. The Cats put up a statement win after four extremely tight games, taking Game 5 in a 6-1 victory. They were a minute and six seconds away from a second straight shutout. The name of the game was depth scoring, with six different goal scorers and two Panthers getting their first career playoff goals. The defensemen stepped up offensively, accounting for three of the six goals while adding pressure to force mistakes on Toronto’s part. This match showcased the huge difference in playoff maturity between the two teams, and Florida’s experience over the last three postseasons has given the team confidence in themselves in any situation. 

Big Impact Depth:

Evan Rodrigues wasn’t available for Game 5 following his injury in Game 4. Instead of messing with the three other lines, HC Paul Maurice opted to put in Jesper Boqvist on the top line with Barkov and Reinhart. It was a big ask of Boqvist, who’d been in and out of the lineup, but he made an impact and didn’t look out of place with his new linemates. At 5v5, they had 10:00 TOI and held the advantage in shot attempts (18-12), scoring chances (11-5), high danger chances (5-2), and 2-0 goals for; shots on goal were tied 8-8. Forsling intercepted a blind pass Marner sent up the middle of the ice and got the puck to Reinhart. Reinhart then walked it toward the net, where he sent a cross-ice pass that Jesper redirected in for his first career playoff goal and gave the Cats a 3-0 lead. Boqvist’s hard work and speed allowed him to beat Marner to the net and be in a position to receive Reinhart’s pass; Jesper received second-star honors. A. J. Greer also scored his first career playoff goal roughly six and a half minutes into the third period. Hard work in the faceoff dot from Greer got the puck back to the blue line, where Schmidt’s shot deflected off of Gadjovich and hit a Leaf in the face. Greer then picked up the loose puck near the net and had all the space he could want to shoot at, and made it a 5-0 game. Maurice praised his depth players in his post-game interview and said that it was special when those players score for the team. The Cats became the first team in over 30 years to have 17 unique goal scores in its first ten games. The last team to do it was the 1993 Kings. 

Offensive Defensmen Put On A Show:

It’s no secret that the Florida defense is aggressive. The Cats’ d-men have been fantastic this postseason, with Ekblad, Schmidt, Kulikov, and Mikkola all scoring goals in the first two series. Schmidt has quietly been the Panthers’ top points-producing defenseman with 7 points in 10 games, off three goals and four assists. Ekblad, since returning from both his suspensions, is on a 5-game point streak, and he scored the opening goal in Game 5. Florida’s top line put in hard work in the o-zone to generate a couple of chances, before eventually a rebound found its way to Reinhart. Samson then passed the puck to Ekblad, whose shot then went in top shelf just under the crossbar and got the Cats the 1-0 lead out of the first period. Kulikov’s one-timer was set up by Tkachuk working along the boards to get the puck to Schmidt, who made the pass to Kuli. There wasn’t a Leaf anywhere near Kulikov, so he had plenty of time and space to make his shot. Woll was doing everything in his power to keep Toronto in the game, but he got no help from his team and was left out to dry, especially in the second period. Mikkola’s goal was once again set up by the Cats’ work along the boards. Lundell and Luostarinen won the puck battle at the boards. Anton was able to make the cross-ice pass to Mikkola, who was once again wide open. He took a moment to settle the puck before making the shot that went in the glove side of Woll and got Florida the 4-0 lead heading into the second intermission. The Panthers’ pressure resulted in 21 giveaways by the Leafs and another five takeaways by the Cats as well as a 54-49 advantage in hits. The defense was a full team effort to back up Bobrovsky, who’d kept the Leafs goalless for 143:25 minutes before they finally scored in the final 1:06; he made 54 consecutive saves between Games 4 & 5. 

Playoff Maturity:

If there’s one thing Florida’s done extremely well since 2022, it’s learn from their losses and grow from them. They’re now looking to go to their 3rd consecutive Conference Final and hopefully a 3rd Stanley Cup Final appearance. The experience the team has with deep playoff runs and heartbreaking losses has given the room confidence in any given situation because the core players have been in nearly every possible situation in the postseason. Even when Florida was down 0-2 in the series, not one player who was interviewed said that there was panic or concern in the locker room. They know what they’re capable of and they know what it takes to win it all. Game 5, I think, has best showcased the difference in playoff experience between the Panthers and the Leafs. If something isn’t going right for the Cats, they know that if they keep playing the right way, then eventually the results will come. They’re a team built for the long 7-game series grind, and that’s where they’re most successful. They also know how to win the mental part of the playoffs. Florida plays its best hockey when the emotions are heightened. Because that’s where they thrive, if they can get their opponents into a higher emotional state, where they’re less successful, then the Cats are going to make you pay with nearly every mistake that’s made. Lundell won the faceoff, and then the puck found its way onto Bennett’s stick. Bennett has been fantastic this postseason and scored on a one-timer shot for the 6-0 lead in the third; he leads Florida in goal scoring at 6. Frustration had clearly set in for the Leafs after that goal, and scrums were starting to break out. At one point, there were a combined eight players in the penalty box with less than 7 minutes to play. Marchand was given a 10-minute misconduct out of the scrum. That fight was behind the Toronto net, and Marchand, who had been going for a change, instead went back to join the fight at the behest of his teammates on the bench. With less than 2 minutes to play, another scrum broke out at the Florida net with 10-minute misconducts going to Ekblad and Domi. There was more rough stuff at the final buzzer that I expect will spill over into Game 6 on Friday in Sunrise.