The Florida Panthers go for a sweep of their second round NHL playoff series when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 4. For the Leafs, its win or go home.
Faceoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. ET at Florida Live Arena. According to BetOnline, the Maple Leafs are -115 moneyline favorites while the Panthers are priced at +104. The puckline numbers show Florida at +1.5/-220 and Toronto at -1.5/+190. The total is 6.5/O-127.
Florida is a huge -900 favorite to win the series. The Panthers are also the top betting choice (+125) to win the Eastern Conference followed by Carolina (+165), New Jersey (+375) and Toronto (+1200).
Florida Panthers (49-35-7-1, 3-0)
The Panthers have won a franchise record six straight playoff games and are one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 1996.
That was the year the Panthers went to the playoffs for the first time, in just their third season, and lost in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Since then, however, they are just 2-6 in playoff series, and that includes this year’s historic upset of the top-seeded Boston Bruins.
Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has led the current charge as he has a .921 save percentage during this six-game winning streak. He has held Toronto to just two goals in each game of this series.
Never seen a save like this from Sergei Bobrovsky on Auston Matthews, crazy #timetohunt pic.twitter.com/i6mCzEe8Hz
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) May 5, 2023
Florida is led by Carter Verhaeghe, whose 12 career playoff goals are the most in Panthers history. He had arguably the biggest goal in franchise history to eliminate Boston in Round 1.
CARTER VERHAEGHE GOAL
THE PANTHERS UPSET THE BRUINS
— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) May 1, 2023
Matthew Tkachuk leads Florida this year in playoff goals (five) and assists (10).
Toronto Maple Leafs (54-25-10-2, 0-3)
Amazingly, Toronto’s top four scorers have been held without a goal against the Panthers. John Tavares, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner combined for 13 goals in Toronto’s opening-round series win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tavares leads Toronto in this series with 16 scoring chances, but he hasn’t hit the back of the net.
Goalie issue
Starting netminder Ilya Samsonov came away with an unspecified injury early in the second period Sunday. He was replaced by Joseph Woll, who has just 13 games of NHL experience:
Joseph Woll stops Sam Bennett’s between-the-legs attempt to keep the game tied 😮 pic.twitter.com/qHs0DhGn3z
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) May 8, 2023
Woll stopped 18 of 21 Florida shots and made several critical saves that helped push the game to overtime. But Woll was beaten on a wrap-around by Panthers forward Sam Reinhart just over three minutes into the extra frame:
Sam Reinhart scores the OT winner. What a sequence by the Panthers pic.twitter.com/MPeIZhYlX0
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 8, 2023
Woll is set to become the first rookie to start a Stanley Cup playoff game for Toronto since Felix Potvin in 1993.
History frowns on Toronto
Only four teams in NHL history have come back from down 3-0 in a best-of-7 series.
The Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings in the 1942 Stanley Cup Final.
The New York Islanders against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals.
The Philadelphia Flyers against the Boston Bruins in the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The Los Angeles Kings against the San Jose Sharks in the 2014 Western Conference First Round.
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