NHL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Panthers leave Maple Leafs ‘baffled’ while taking 2-0 series lead

Count the Toronto Maple Leafs as the latest NHL elite to be absolutely flummoxed by the eighth-seeded Florida Panthers.

After their first-round pick against the top-seeded Boston Bruins, the Panthers defeated the Leafs 3-2 on Thursday in Toronto to take a 2-0 lead into the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was particularly concerned about a dismal performance in the second period in which the Panthers scored two unanswered goals.

‘Disappointing. Astonishing,’ said Keefe. “We didn’t make those mistakes once in the last series [in the first round against Tampa].’

Sergei Bobrovsky made 35 saves for Florida, while Anton Lundell had a goal and an assist. Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling also scored for Florida.

Ryan O’Reilly and Alexander Kerfoot scored for Toronto, who took an early 2-0 lead. Ilya Samsonov stopped 26 shots.

The best-of-seven series shifts to Sunrise, Florida, for Game 3 on Sunday. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday.

Toronto led 2-1 after a spirited, spirited first period. Trouble found the Maple Leafs in the second.

Barkov tied the game after 19 seconds with a long shot for his second goal of the postseason. Less than a minute later, there was some sloppy play from Toronto in the defensive zone as Mitch Marner deflected an ill-advised pass to Auston Matthews, who was unable to get him out of the zone.

Florida responded quickly as Forsling rounded off a set-up from Matthew Tkachuk – his fourth of the series – for his second and a 3-2 lead.

It took the Maple Leafs a while to recover before William Nylander hit the post with a shot that also hit Bobrovsky in the back and failed. Florida defender Brandon Montour then hit the post on the other side.

Toronto captain John Tavares had a big chance up front before Josh Mahura took a Nylander shot off the crosshairs that left a trail of blood on the ice as he left the locker room. The Panthers defenseman returned for the third period.

Toronto came out for third with much urgency, but couldn’t fix Bobrovsky, who began to rediscover his Vezina Trophy-winning form in these playoffs after losing the starting job to third-stringer Alex Lyon late in the regular season.

Tavares was stopped alone and Nylander hit another post. The Maple Leafs winger was also tightly denied with five minutes left in regulation.

Toronto continued to press for an additional striker with Samsonov on the bench, but could not beat Bobrovsky.

Toronto dropped the series opener 4-2 at the Scotiabank Arena, but got off to a fast start on Thursday as Kerfoot scored on the rebound of a punt shot from Luke Schenn for his second 2:20 from the first.

Unable to connect on two early power plays in Game 1, the Maple Leafs made it 2-0 on a man advantage at 5:10 when Marner found O’Reilly, who scored his third on a one-time timer.

The Panthers, who beat the record-breaking Boston Bruins in seven games to make it to the second round, began to push back as the period progressed, including Sam Bennett putting Matthew Knies in a submission hold and knocking him to the ice.

The rookie from Toronto completed the period, but did not return for the second period due to an undisclosed injury.

Florida responded at 11:13 when Lundell scored his first after linemate Eetu Luostarinen crushed Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren behind Samsonov’s net and Tavares fell.

STARS 4, CRACKS 2

Joe Pavelski scored his fifth goal in two games since returning from concussion protocol with an assist from Wyatt Johnston, his 19-year-old rookie housemate who also scored a goal, as the Dallas Stars defeated Seattle 4-2 on Thursday night to win the second round series at each game.

Evgenii Dadonov added a nifty wraparound goal and Tyler Seguin scored for the Stars, who, as in their first round match against Minnesota, came back from an overtime loss at home in the opener to tie before taking to the road.

Game 3 is Sunday-evening in Seattle.

Tye Kartye and Jordan Eberle had goals for the Kraken.

Johnston, who has been living with Pavelski’s family this season, set up his mentor’s power play goal when he first sniffed at the puck before turning to send it into goaltender Philipp Grubauer’s laid stick. Pavelski was there for the rebound and put the Stars up 3-1 with 3:03 left in the middle period.

Pavelski scored all four Stars goals in Game 1, as they lost 5-4 in overtime. That was the 38-year-old forward’s first game since he banged his head hard on the ice after a big hit in the April Minnesota Series opener. 17.

Jake Oettinger had 25 saves for the Stars. Grubauer stopped 33 shots.

For Pavelski’s final goal, Kartye got the Kraken 2-1 up at halftime as he took a long pass off the boards from Vince Dunn and bypassed defender Miro Heiskanen to score.

Johnston’s second career playoff goal came right after the end of a power play earlier in the second period for a 1–0 lead. His 24 goals in the regular season tied for the NHL rookie lead.

Colin Miller had taken the shot from the top of the circle on the right side of the net after receiving a cross-ice pass from Max Domi from the other circle. Johnston initially got his knife on the puck and slammed in his own rebound after it ricocheted off Grubauer’s chest.

A trade deadline addition, Dadonov got his fourth goal of the playoffs when he skated around the net and slid the puck over the line – and eventually over it – for a 2-0 lead.

Seguin put the Stars 4-1 with his fifth goal this postseason, the first to tie the game, midway through the third period. The veteran center, the only Dallas player to win a Stanley Cup, also had an assist.