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The Toronto Maple Leafs had difficulty generating any offense against the Florida Panthers, in a rematch of last year’s second-round playoff series, but unlike the end of last year’s postseason, where Florida found their way to victory post-regulation, the Leafs triumphed in a 2-1 shootout victory at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
The offensive star of the game was speedy fourth liner Noah Gregor, who scored Toronto’s only goal on a dash in the second period and put them in the lead in the shootout after it appeared thst the Leafs had lost on an Evan Rodrigues shootout goal, but video review determined that Rodrigues had double-tapped the puck into the goal.
Undoubtedly, the best player on the ice was Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll.
Woll made 38 saves and stopped five of six attempts in the shootout for the victory, and perhaps staked a claim as being Toronto’s primary starter going forward.
“(Woll was) outstanding. Just so solid.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “His play through the final segment of the first period keeps us around in the game. I didn’t think we gave up very much after that for the most part, but anything that we did, he was solid. And of course (what he did) in OT and shootout.”
The game was a rough and tumble affair, as you would expect a game with the Panthers to be. Sam Bennett made his presence felt, doing his best embellishment to draw Max Domi into a double minor and fighting the Leafs forward afterward. Mitch Marner took a puck to the face in the first period and came out in the second wearing a cage.
The bad news from the contest was the core four group struggling once again. Auston Matthews only contribution was a conversion in the shootout, and William Nylander hit two posts but went scoreless for the third straight game. The Leafs went 0-for-6 on the power play, and for the eighth time in 20 games were called for too many men on the ice.
On the injury front, veteran defenseman Mark Giordano left the game with a hand injury and Keefe said that preliminary indications were that Giordano would miss some time. On Wednesday, the Leafs head coach said that he is definitely out for Thursday’s game vs. Seattle, but that they are awaiting test results to determine the full extent of the injury.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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