Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Kevin Stenlund each scored their first goals with Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves as the Panthers won their home opener, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Thursday night in Sunrise, Fla.
Toronto star Auston Matthews, who entered the night leading the NHL with six goals, was held without a point.
Florida, which went 0-for-4 on its power play, won its second straight game. Sam Reinhart tallied an empty-net goal just before the game ended, and he and Aleksander Barkov had assists for Florida, which won its home opener for the fifth straight season.
The Panthers were again without three injured standouts: forward Sam Bennett and defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour.
Mitchell Marner scored for the Leafs, who have lost two straight games. John Tavares and William Nylander earned assists.
Bobrovsky won a battle between Russian-born goalies, both of whom were sharp. Toronto’s Ilya Samsonov had 21 saves in the loss.
The game was a rematch of last season’s second-round playoff series, which was won by the Panthers 4-1.
On Thursday, Toronto went just 1-for-5 on its power play and lost 57.1 percent of the faceoffs.
Florida opened the scoring at the 17:08 mark in the first period. Using Ryan Lomberg’s screen, Stenlund ripped a high shot from the right circle, beating Samsonov on the stick side.
The Panthers made it 2-0 with just seven seconds left in the first period. Ekman-Larsson fired a shot from the point that beat Samsonov’s glove side. This time, Samsonov was inadvertently screened by two teammates, Matthews and Tyler Bertuzzi.
Toronto got on the board with 11:52 gone in the second, on a power-play goal. Tavares earned the primary assist due to his shot from the slot, and Marner knocked in the rebound with a backhander at the doorstep.
The Leafs, with their goalie pulled for an extra attacker, called timeout with 1:24 left for one final push.
Barkov was then called for tripping with 1:09 left, giving Toronto a 6-on-4 man advantage. But the Panthers hung on with big saves by Bobrovsky and blocked shots by Stenlund, Gustav Forsling and Niko Mikkola.
Florida’s four-game homestand will continue Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks. Toronto’s five-game trip will continue Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
–Field Level Media
