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Panthers’ Paul Maurice cast doubt on embellishment call during Game 2

Originally posted on NHL on ClutchPoints
By Christopher Hennessy | Last updated May 8, 2025 8:34 AM ET

The Florida Panthers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Wednesday night to fall behind 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They are defending their Stanley Cup title, but they got off to a rough start on the road in this series. Officiating has been a massive question throughout this series, starting with the Sam Bennett elbow on Leafs’ goalie Anthony Stolarz . On Thursday, Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues was called for a bizarre embellishment penalty, but Paul Maurice did not have any answers.

“Paul Maurice said he didn’t get an explanation from refs on the Rodrigues embellishment call,” TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported.

Evan Rodrigues heads to the dressing room following a hit from Scott Laughton

Rodrigues received a two-minute for embellishment while Laughton received a four-minute for roughing pic.twitter.com/dwUajG7dkG

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 8, 2025

The Panthers could have gone on the power play in a tie game in the second period. Instead, Rodrigues’ penalty forced five-on-five play that yielded no goals. Later in the period, Max Domi took the lead for the Maple Leafs. Rodrigues got up from the hit and headed straight down the tunnel. He did return to the game.

When Stolarz left Game 1 with an apparent head injury, many assumed this series would go off the rails. But the Maple Leafs did not pick any fights with the Panthers and just played the game. The refs were likely on edge, looking for anything that could boil over. That is how these calls happen, even when a player heads down the tunnel.

The Panthers now head home down 2-0 in the series. They need to win four of the next five games to continue their Stanley Cup defense. The good news for them is that they just beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games, another talented team. But even Brad Marchand admitted there was something different about this Maple Leafs squad than the ones in the past.

The Panthers and Maple Leafs continue their series in Sunrise on Friday night.

This article first appeared on NHL on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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