SUNRISE — The Panthers came out of the Olympic break firing on all cylinders.
After scoring three first-period goals, Florida picked up a much-needed 5-1 win over Toronto at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday night. With the victory, the Panthers moved into a tie with the Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference standings.
“I thought we started well, which we really wanted to do,” veteran forward Brad Marchand said. “And at the end of the day, the points are what matters right now.”
Marchand, one of the three Panthers who won a silver medal for Team Canada, got Florida on the board early. After deflecting a puck in front of the net, he corralled the loose puck and shot it past Joseph Woll for the Panthers’ first goal of the night.
Florida did not have to wait long for a second goal. Toronto center Nicolas Roy was called for tripping, and Carter Verhaeghe scored on the power play with a close-range shot that went over Woll’s shoulder.
“The thing we wanted to see the most was that first-period speed,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “That was the best part of our game, offensively.”
Not even a Toronto power play could stop Florida in its dominant first period. Winger Evan Rodrigues broke up a pass attempt from William Nylander and got a shorthanded breakaway attempt. Rodrigues deked Woll and snuck the puck past him for the Panthers’ third goal of the period.
“(Had) a lot of time and just kept checking my shoulder and wanted to shoot it, but felt I wasn’t going fast enough,” Rodrigues said. “So just kind of panicked a little bit, and I tried that move on him a couple years ago in a shootout. Happy it went in this time.”
With his team ahead 3-0, Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky took care of the rest. He allowed one goal, on a power play early in the third period. A shot from John Tavares deflected off Gustav Forsling and under the Florida goalie. But otherwise, Bobrovsky performed well and finished the game with 28 saves.
“It’s tough when you sit for a long time,” Maurice said. “He’s been off for three weeks. You’d almost like a big-shot first period for him to get him back into it, but he’s always been able to do that for us — sit for a while with not much and then be real sharp.”
Marchand added a second goal late in the third period, scoring with an empty net in the game’s final minutes. Matthew Tkachuk, who was honored in a pregame ceremony for the game’s American Olympians, scored an empty-net goal, as well.
“We came out strong, scored three goals,” Bobrovsky said. “So it was a big first period for us and then we played our game. It was a great win.”