As in the second round last season, the Florida Panthers emerged victorious from their duel against the Toronto Maple Leafs with a score of 3 to 1 on Thursday evening at the Amerant Bank Arena.
The game was decided within 2 minutes and 45 seconds in the first period. After scoring the first goal through Kevin Stentlund, the Panthers scored a second goal just before the first intermission, which turned out to be the game-winner.
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In fact, Oliver Ekman-Larsson deceived Ilya Samsonov with a wrist shot from the blue line. It is his first goal with the “Cats”, for whom he signed a one-year contract with the team on July 1st.
Mitch Marner responded to the Leafs’ power play midway through the second period. Despite having five shots on goal, Auston Matthews was suspended for the second time in a row.
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky had his best performance of this young season, stopping 29 of the 30 pucks aimed at him.
Devon Levi is still fighting
Apparently, the start of the season for young Buffalo Sabers goaltender Devon Levi is not going as planned. The Dollard-des-Ormeaux native allowed four goals for the second time in four games during the 2023-2024 season. The latter made 33 saves in the Buffalonians’ loss to the Calgary Flames.
Jonathan Huberdeau got the ball rolling in the 49th second by scoring his second goal of the regular season. The Flames’ offensive performance was well distributed, with 12 different players from the club getting on the scoresheet.
For the Sabres, defenseman Rasmus Dahlin had two assists, while Tage Thompson got his first red light of the year.
Nikita Kucherov starts the uprising for the Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning, who were led 2-1 by the Vancouver Canucks until the end of the middle period, found their way to victory with a 4-3 win.
Nikita Kucherov notably scored two goals, while Nick Paul provided a goal and an assist. When his team fought back, Brock Boeser scored his fifth goal of the season.
Jon Cooper’s men suffered three straight defeats before this home win.
Bedard v. MacKinnon
The action continues later this evening as we present the Chicago Blackhawks vs. Colorado Avalanche in Denver.
The meet is currently taking place on TVA Sports.
Of course, the spotlight is once again on young Hawks sensation Connor Bedard. The very first pick of the last draft has recorded one goal and two assists in four games so far. Chicago won two of those games, all of which were played on the road, including the last 4-1 against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
The Avalanche, for their part, are off to a good start with three wins in as many games.
If Mikko Rantanen is doing well with five points so far, things will be more difficult for former CH Jonathan Drouin, who has already left the first unit after collecting one assist in three games.