Toronto Maple Leafs winless in seven after loss to the Florida Panthers
The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs won a game was against the Florida Panthers over two weeks ago, and the very same Panthers team just handed the Leafs their seventh straight defeat with a 4-1 victory
on Wednesday, 10 November.
How it happened
Tomas Vokoun was solid in goal for the Panthers, stopping 32 of the 33 shots he faced and the Maple Leafs went 0-for-5 with the man advantage on the night.
The Panthers took advantage of their power play opportunities, going 2-for-5 on the night and getting goals with the extra man in the second and third periods.
The Panthers led 1-0 after the first period after Bryan Allen shot them into the lead with a blast from the point after Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson failed to clear the puck from the zone.
The Panthers got the first of their two power play goals in the second when Steven Reinprecht potted his third of the season.
In the third, Shawn Matthias got his third goal of the season early in the period before Michael Frolik got his fourth of the season and Florida's second on the power play exactly 10 minutes later.
With the game already out of reach, the Leafs spoiled Vokoun's shutout bid by getting a late goal from Mikhail Grabovski.
What they're saying
"I thought we played a good game. We were opportunistic," was the way Panthers coach Peter DeBoer summed up the game at the presser. "We got some scoring from some people we needed to – Brian Allen got
a big goal, Mattias got a goal, Frolik. That's the depth kind of scoring we need, and when we had some breakdowns, Vokie was real good."
"We're a team that prides itself on working hard and we just have to find a way to score goals," defenseman Brett Lebda said about his Leafs team who have been shut out three times during their seven-game
losing skid. "When it snowballs, it snowballs. It's getting a little out of control right now. I think we have the guys in here who can make it go the other way."
Despite the win, the Panthers remain at the bottom of the Southeast Division standings. Amazingly, despite their sub-.500 record they have a plus-7 goal differential. They prepare to host the Minnesota
Wild on Friday, 12 November.
After a strong start to the season, the Maple Leafs are a ship that is sinking fast. Phil Kessel has not registered a point during the team's seven-game losing streak. They take on a mighty opponent –
the Northwest Division leading Vancouver Canucks – on Saturday night.
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