Sam Reinhart buried the overtime winner for the Florida Panthers to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the second round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 3-2 victory gives the Panthers six straight playoff wins, as they continue to do whatever it takes to tack on wins that get them closer to the Stanley Cup. Three of those victories have come in overtime.
Aaron Ekblad started everything when he launched the puck out of his own zone down ice, where Reinhart gloved it and started to go to work. He weaved his way around the ice, passing through Maple Leafs before throwing the puck around the net.
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It found the stick of Sam Lundell, but Reinhart never stopped skating. Lundell found him behind the net and Reinhart whipped around and caught Joseph Woll off guard in net.
Florida now has the opportunity to end the series on home ice in Game 4 on Wednesday.
It was the Leafs that got on the board first thanks to a 2-on-1 chance early in the first period. David Kampf took a long pass from Morgan Rielly into Panthers territory, and he had the option of tossing it over to Sam Lafferty on his left and he did just that.
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Lafferty ripped a one-timer past Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky and celebration ensued as Toronto got off to the start they wanted in Game 3.
Lafferty’s goal was the only one to come in the first period, but the second saw both teams get on the scoreboard. The Panthers broke through on home ice thanks to Anthony Duclair, who dangled his way around Ilya Samsonov after getting a beauty of a pass from Aaron Ekblad down ice.
Erik Gustafsson got the lead back for Toronto after burying his first goal of the playoffs after his pass for Kampf in front of the net hit Marc Staal’s stick and deflected into the net.
Then, Carter Verhaeghe scored his fourth goal of the playoffs to tie the game at two apiece.
Radko Gudas’s point shot at the net hit off Verhaeghe’s behind and deflected perfectly into the net.
If the third loss in a row was not bad enough, the Leafs also lost Samsonov in this game after colliding with teammate Luke Schenn on a Panthers rush to the net. Schenn lost his footing trying to get back to defend and hit Samsonov as he made a save.
It is unknown the severity of the injury and whether Samsonov will be ready for Game 4.
