Florida Panthers hold on with 5-2 victory over Toronto Maple Leafs -NHL Update
Florida continues to take it game-by-game when it comes to holding on to the number three spot in the Eastern Conference as Panthers routed Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2, on Tuesday night, March 13, 2012, at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida, United
States.
Toronto, now having lost five in a row, cannot find a way to win against their competition, something which is just making it harder for them to rebound as the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) nears the final games.
Maple Leafs are now way out of the playoff race sitting at number 12 in the East with 68 points, 10 behind eighth place Washington Capitals.
Going up against Toronto has been something Florida has always looked forward to seeing how they have dominated them throughout with a huge difference in each.
"I can't explain against the Leafs what the difference is," Florida coach, Kevin Dineen, said. "Sometimes during the course of the season you find a way to get a team's number. Very fortunate for us this has been one of those teams. There’s other teams …
we beat the Rangers early and then they spanked us three in a row. The thing flip-flops a little bit, but it's nice being on the good side of those, that’s for sure."
Florida in now only a point above their South East Division rivals, the Washington Capitals, with 79 points and have to continue winning if they hope on holding on till the final game.
Sean Bergenheim picked up his 15th goal of the year only 59 seconds into the contest. Jason Garrison did the same to extend the Florida lead with less than six minutes remaining till the end of the second but Tyler Bozak was sure to keep Toronto
alive with their first at 19:02.
Panthers went all out in round three as Tomas Kopecky and Marcel Goc added two straight on the power play with Toronto giving it up twice in a row. Sean Bergenheim added the empty-netter at 18:40, nearly five minutes after Mikhail Grabovski added the Maple
Leafs’ second of the night.
Toronto has much to work towards but it seems hard to the moment to determine where they will stand at the end. Maple Leafs have some tough competition against a heated Tampa Bay Lightning team on Thursday.
Florida is a two-game winning streak and will do anything to win against Boston Bruins at home the same day in order to keep their lead in the Eastern Conference.
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