The Toronto Maple Leafs lost both Game 2 and an impressive rookie as the Florida Panthers rallied Thursday night to win 3-2 and take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies left the game during the first period after he was checked by Panthers forward Sam Bennett. Knies was shoved into the boards by Bennett, who then slammed him to the ice. Knies appeared dazed after the play.
“I didn’t love it, obviously,” Maple Leafs captain John Tavares said of the hit. “And it results in an injury.”
The Maple Leafs later announced that Knies, who joined the team late in the season after helping the University of Minnesota reach the NCAA championship game, would not return.
NHL AWARDS: Finalists announced for Norris Trophy
Coach Sheldon Keefe said he had no update on Knies, but noted, “Obviously, he didn’t complete the game, so that’s not positive.”
Knies got into the lineup in the postseason after a first-round suspension to Michael Bunting and has had a strong postseason with a goal and three assists. He also saved a goal in Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning that allowed Toronto to overcome a 4-1 deficit.
There was no penalty called on the play, though Bennett (team-high 10 hits) was later penalized for cross-checking Bunting in the neck.
Keefe said the cross-check was “eerily similar” to one by Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews in the 2022 Heritage Classic. “We know how that one worked out (two-game suspension),” he said. “We will see. The league will look at all of these kind of things.”
Bennett’s teammate, Matthew Tkachuk, said of the hit on Knies: “I do not think he will hear from Player Safety on that.”
Toronto, which has reached the second round for the first time since 2004, took a quick 2-0 first-period lead on goals by Alexander Kerfoot and Ryan O’Reilly, but Florida’s Anton Lundell cut the lead to 2-1 before the period ended.
Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling scored 57 seconds apart early in the second period to put the Panthers up 3-2 and Sergei Bobrovsky made the lead stand, finishing with 34 saves.
“You get behind the bench some nights and you get a feel for your goaltender, going, ‘Oh man, he’s not going to get beat again,'” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “And that’s what he gave our team.”
The Panthers, who upset the Boston Bruins in the first round, have won five in a row. They head home for Games 3 and 4 on Sunday and Wednesday.
Panthers’ Josh Mahura bloodied by puck
Panthers defenseman Josh Mahura left the game in the second period when he was hit by a puck on a fluke play. Mahura was pursuing Kerfoot around the back of the net when William Nylander’s shot went high and wide and appeared to catch the defenseman under the visor near his eye.
Mahura was bleeding heavily as he left the ice. He eventually returned in the third period and skated a couple shifts.
Stars 4, Kraken 2
DALLAS (AP) – Joe Pavelski scored his fifth goal in two games since returning from concussion protocol with an assist from Wyatt Johnston, his 19-year-old rookie housemate who also scored a goal, and Dallas beat Seattle to tie the second-round series at a game each.
Evgenii Dadonov added a nifty wraparound goal and Tyler Seguin scored for the Stars.
Tye Kartye and Jordan Eberle had goals for the Kraken.
Jake Oettinger had 25 saves for the Stars. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer stopped 33 shots.
Game 3 is Sunday night in Seattle.
