TORONTO – Lacking some big guns, the Florida Panthers fought hard, but they didn’t lose 3-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scottia Bank Arena on Wednesday.
In defeat, they led 34-22 on a scoring chance.
With seven games remaining in the regular season, the Panthers (44-27-4) will place the Maple Leafs (46-25-4) first in the Atlantic Division.
“If I say I don’t like our game tonight, I’ll lie to you,” forward Rodriguez said. “We did a lot of good things. We controlled a lot of plays. We wanted to win.”
Already hit the road without some important works, including Matthew Tokachuk and Aaron Ekblad. The Panthers missed two more important players on the Toronto ice as Alexander Barkov and Niko Sturm sat injured.
Barkov (upper body) left in the second term of Tuesday’s defeat in Montreal, but managed to return to third, but Nico Sturm (private) left first and did not return.
Following the leaps tonight, coach Paul Maurice said Barkov is daily.
“He’ll play as soon as he gets healthy,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a long-term deal.”
Even inadequate, the Panthers got off to a strong start in Toronto.
Passing the unharmed first period, the Panthers chased just 7-5 with a 5-5 chance to score.
The killing unfolded defensive man Seth Jones in nearly two minutes.
“Everyone brought the game today,” Rodriguez said.
In attacking early in the second season, the Panthers smashed the ice as they defeated a pass from Sam Reinhart and blow straight into the string past Anthony Slolarz and dropped the hot missile to make it 1-0 at 1:03.
