Ekblad, Panthers lead Maple Leafs after first period

Aaron Ekblad got the Panthers on the board late in the first period, giving Florida a 1-0 lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs after 20 minutes in Game 5.

The Leafs will start the second period with 17 seconds of power play time remaining on their first opportunity on the man advantage. 

The lone goal of the period came at 14:38 of the frame after sustained pressure in the Toronto zone. As the Leafs failed to clear a loose puck in the slot, Sam Reinhart found Ekblad, who snapped the puck past a screened Joseph Woll for his second of the playoffs. Jesper Boqvist, who dressed in place of Evan Rodrigues who is out with an undisclosed injury, got the other assist on the goal.

Joseph Woll was the busier goalie in the first period as he turned away 11 of 12 Panthers shots. Sergei Bobrovsky was perfect on less work, making three stops in the period. 

The Maple Leafs head coach made two changes at forward for Game 5. Head coach Craig Berube brought winger Nick Robertson and centre David Kampf down from the press box and into the action. Calle Jarnkrok and Pontus Holmberg were scratched.

The home team has won every game thus far in the series. Florida evened the series on Sunday night with a 2-0 victory.