Panthers survive blown 2 goal lead, down Maple Leafs 4-2 in Game 1

Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves and Matthew Tkachuk had three assists as the Florida Panthers survived a blown 2-0 lead to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Tuesday.

TORONTO — Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves and Matthew Tkachuk had three assists as the Florida Panthers survived a blown 2-0 lead to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Tuesday in Game 1 of their best-of-seven second-round playoff series.

Sam Bennett, with a goal and an assist, Carter Verhaeghe and Nick Cousins provided the rest of the offence for Florida, which roared back from a 3-1 deficit to stun the record-setting Boston Bruins with three straight victories and take that first-round matchup in seven games. Aleksander Barkov had two assists.

Matthew Knies, with his first NHL goal, and Michael Bunting replied for Toronto.

The Leafs ended a generation of misery Saturday when John Tavares scored in overtime of Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Lightning to see the Original Six franchise advance in the post-season for the first time since 2004.

Ilya Samsonov stopped 24 shots for the Leafs, who host Game 2 with the Panthers on Thursday before the series shifts to South Florida.

Tied 2-2 late in the second period with the Leafs pushing, the never-say-die visitors — the Bruins learned that first-hand — responded to silence the towel-waving crowd at Scotiabank Arena.

Verhaeghe, who scored the dramatic winner in Game 7 against Boston on Sunday, took a pass from Anthony Duclair and gave his team the lead for good when he beat Samsonov on a breakaway at 17:47 for his fourth goal of the playoffs.

Toronto had a couple opportunities to tie it in the third, but never really threatened Bobrovsky before Montour blasted a one-timer on a delayed penalty at 12:24 after Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe felled Tkachuk in the offensive zone.