SUNRISE, Fla. — Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe had power-play goals, Sam Reinhart had a short-handed score and the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 on Wednesday night for only their second win in eight games.
Mackie Samoskevich also scored for Florida, Sam Bennett got an empty-net goal and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 shots for the Panthers. Verhaeghe also had two assists.
Mitch Marner scored for the Maple Leads, who lost for the second time in the last nine games and saw their lead in the Atlantic Division over Florida cut to one point.
Anthony Stolarz stopped 19 shots for Toronto. The Maple Leafs lost forward Bobby McMann in the second period with a lower body injury.
Maple Leafs: Stolarz, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and forward Steven Lorentz — all Panthers last season — got their Stanley Cup championship rings in a Wedneday morning ceremony. Panthers coach Paul Maurice, general manager Bill Zito and a number of Panthers players also were present to celebrate with their former teammates. “Worth the wait,” Lorentz said.
Panthers: Florida was without Anton Lundell, who left Monday’s game after a puck was deflected into his face. He took part in the morning skate Wednesday but wasn’t in the game lineup.
Samoskevich’s goal put Florida up 2-0 — it came 50 seconds after Barkov opened the scoring — and was a very good sign for the Panthers. They’re now 4-0-0 when the former Michigan star gets a goal.
Reinhart has four short-handed goals this season. The only team — besides Florida — with four short-handed goals this season is Columbus, and 20 NHL clubs entered Wednesday with no more than one such goal this season.
The Maple Leafs visit Tampa Bay on Saturday, while the Panthers visit Carolina on Friday to start a home-and-home, with the return Saturday in Sunrise.
___
AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
