Panthers rally to hold lead over Leafs heading to third period of Game 3

Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, and Tomas Nosek each tallied a goal in the second period as the Florida Panthers will take a 4-3 lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs into the third period of Game 3.

The Leafs got on the board early in the period once again, converting on the power play for the first time in Game 3 when John Tavares tipped a Mitch Marner point shot past a screened Sergei Bobrovsky for his second of the night, giving the Leafs a 3-1 lead. 

The Panthers responded quickly to once again cut the lead to one. After a scramble in front of Joseph Woll, Reinhart was able to poke the loose puck just over the line for his third of the playoffs. The play was initially not called a goal but was ruled to have completely crossed the line upon video review.

The Panthers tied the game just over one minute later when Sam Bennett connected with Verhaeghe on a 2-on-1 for the latter’s third of the postseason.

Florida grabbed their first lead of the game with 4:53 remaining in the period when Nosek, who was getting his first action of the series, snuck a shot under the arm of Woll for his first of the postseason. 

Matthew Knies got Toronto on the board 23 seconds into the game and Tavares added to the lead before Aleksander Barkov got the Panthers on the board to cut the lead in half

Woll has stopped 11 of 15 shots for the Leafs, while Sergei Bobrovsky has made 15 saves through two periods.

Toronto has gone 1-for-4 on the power play through 40 minutes, while the Panthers have failed to capitalize on a pair of power play chances.