Nylander has Maple Leafs leading Panthers in Game 1 of second round
Published
The Toronto Maple Leafs hold a 3-1 lead over the Florida Panthers after 20 minutes in Game 1 of their second-round series on Monday.
Toronto reached the second round after defeating the Ottawa Senators in six games as part of the Battle of Ontario.
The Panthers defeated their cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in order to play the Maple Leafs in the second round.
William Nylander got the Maple Leafs' offence rolling 33 seconds into the game when he threw the puck on net from the boards, which snuck its way past Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky to give Toronto an early one-goal lead.
Nylander went back to work with just over seven minutes remaining in the period when he walked in alone on Bobrovsky and deked him out to give the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead.
His two goals were his fourth and fifth of the playoffs after recording three goals and nine points against the Senators in Round 1.
The Panthers cut Toronto's lead in half on the power play with three minutes remaining in the period when Seth Jones' point-shot beat Maple Leafs' netminder Anthony Stolarz.
Morgan Rielly answered back for the Maple Leafs seconds later when he scored on a two-on-one to return the two-goal lead back to Toronto.
The Maple Leafs out shot the Panthers 12-4 in the period and went 0-for-1 on the man advantage. Florida went 1-for-2 on the power play in the period.
Florida is looking to return to the Eastern Conference Final for the third straight season after being crowned Stanley Cup champions last year.
Toronto is looking to get past the second round for the first time since 2002, where they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games.
Game 2 of this series will take place on Wednesday from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.