Panthers rout the Maple Leafs 6-1 to take a 3-2 series lead

TORONTO (AP) — Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves, three Florida defensemen scored and the Panthers routed the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The defending champion Panthers scored three times in a 7:53 span of the second period to pull away for their third straight victory.

“I wasn’t thinking about it too much,” Bobrovsky said when asked about opening the series with two losses. “I was just focusing on the next game.”

Game 6 is Friday night in Sunrise, Florida.

“I’m not a big believer in momentum,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “The series is closer than you think.”

Jesper Boqvist returned to score his first career playoff goal and also had an assist, and defensemen Aaron Ekblad, Dmitry Kulikov and Niko Mikkola also scored in the first two periods. In the third, A.J. Greer had his first career playoff goal and Sam Bennett added his sixth of the playoffs.

Bobrovsky missed a chance for his second straight shutout when Nicholas Robertson swept the puck in with 1:06 left for Toronto’s first goal in 143 minutes 25 seconds. After a 5-4 overtime victory Friday night in Game 3, Bobrovsky made 23 saves Sunday night in a 2-0 victory.

“We have trust in Bob that you wouldn’t believe,” Ekblad said. “It is unwavering.”

Joseph Woll stopped 20 of 25 shots for Toronto before giving way to Matt Murray after Greer’s goal at 6:23 of the third. Murray made six saves on seven shots.

“I don’t think there’s really any excuse or explanation,” Toronto captain Auston Matthews said. “We’ve got to win a game to keep our season alive.”

Ekblad opened the scoring with 5:22 left in the first period, firing a wrist shot past Woll off a scramble.

Kulikov began the second-period spree at 6:08 with a slap shot from the right point that Toronto’s Scott Laughton inadvertently deflected past Woll.

Boqvist, back in the lineup in place of the injured Evan Rodrigues after being a healthy scratch for two games, scored with 9:55 remaining. Boqvist finished at the left post off San Reinhart’s cross-ice feed. Mikkola made it 4-0 with 5:59 left with a slapper from the left side.

Rodrigues was hurt on a hit from Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Game 4 that drew an interference penalty. With Rodrigues out, Boqvist slotted into a spot alongside Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov.

“It was a good opportunity for me,” Boqvist said. “I enjoyed it, and it probably helped I was playing with two of the best players in the world.”

Toronto added forwards Nick Robertson and David Kampf and sat Calle Jarnkrok and Pontus Holmberg. Robertson last played in Game 2 of the first round. Kampf dressed for the first time since April 2 when he was injured against Florida.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl