TORONTO — Mitch Marner has experienced a whirlwind stretch — both at home and the rink. Joseph Woll waited patiently and prepared for a chance he wasn’t sure he’d get.
They both came through for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 2 of their second-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Marner scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and Woll made 25 saves in place of injured Anthony Stolarz as the Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 series lead.
“A really exciting time in my house,” said Marner, who became a father for the first time over the weekend. “[And] pretty special feeling tonight.”
Woll was pressed into service after Stolarz exited midway through Monday’s opener — a 5-4 Toronto victory — following an elbow to the head from Panthers center Sam Bennett, Woll started for the first time since April 17.
“It’s been something I’ve had to focus on and come up with a plan to stay ready,” Woll said. “It’s a different challenge than playing every night, but a challenge nonetheless.”
Woll, who entered with a .950 save percentage in his four previous playoff starts, also performed well when called upon in both the 2023 and 2024 postseasons because of injury.
“Calm and cool,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “On his toes and fighting through traffic. Very impressed.”
Max Pacioretty and Max Domi each had a goal and an assist, William Nylander also scored and Morgan Rielly added two assists for the Maple Leafs.
Anton Lundell had a goal and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 16 saves.
“Lots of stuff that we like about our game that we think we can improve,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We’ll take a look at it and get better.”
The best-of-seven matchup between Atlantic Division heavyweights now shifts to South Florida, with Game 3 set for Friday.
Trailing 3-2 after two periods, Florida tied it at 5:33 of the third when Lundell shoveled his third goal of the playoffs past Woll.
Toronto regained the lead just 17 seconds later when Marner fired a shot from the boards that found its way through traffic past a surprised Bobrovsky.
Marner, who turned 28 on Monday, has added an “M” to his equipment since he and wife, Stephanie, welcomed their son, Miles, on Sunday morning.
“Just calmness,” he said of what looking down and seeing that initial does for him. “I try to stay calm as much as I can throughout games. It’s always a roller-coaster ride. There’s always stuff going on, stuff you can’t predict happening. I’m trying to play for him.”
Woll made a huge stop on Mackie Samoskevich with 9:59 left in regulation, and Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe swatted a loose puck out of the crease with under six minutes to go. The Panthers continued to press and Sam Reinhart hit the post with just over three minutes left before the Maple Leafs held on late.
Florida, which beat Toronto in five games two years ago at the same stage of the playoffs, went ahead 2-1 just 15 seconds into the middle period when Marchand — a Maple Leafs playoff nemesis as a member of the Boston Bruins — took a pass from Lundell down low off a turnover by Rielly and roofed for his first goal of the playoffs.
Toronto tied it at 4:18 when Pacioretty chipped a puck past Panthers defenseman Seth Jones before finding Nylander in front for him to bury his sixth, and the forward’s seventh point in three games.
“They’re very good on the rush,” Marchand said. “It seemed like every time we gave them the opportunity to get above us, they created something or capitalized on it.”
The Maple Leafs took a 3-2 lead with 2:51 remaining in the second when Domi took a pass from Steven Lorentz on a 2-on-1 and one-timed his second over a sprawling Bobrovsky.
Toronto came up empty on two power plays inside the game’s first 10 minutes before Florida struck 5 seconds into its first man advantage when Barkov fired past Woll for his second at 10:58.
The Maple Leafs got their third power play of the period when Dmitry Kulikov was whistled for delay of game for shooting the puck out of play. Toronto again didn’t get much going until the second unit took the ice and Rielly fired a shot from the point late in the man advantage that Pacioretty — a healthy scratch to start the postseason before scoring the series-clinching goal against Ottawa in the first round — tipped it upstairs for his second with 1:41 left before the first intermission.
The Panthers had defenseman Aaron Ekblad back after a two-game suspension for a forearm to the chin of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel in the first round.
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