TORONTO (AP) — Nick Cousins scored at 15:32 of overtime and Sergei Bobrovsky made 50 saves as the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series on Friday night to advance to the Eastern Conference final.
Aaron Ekblad and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers.
Morgan Rielly and William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs, who had advanced in the playoffs for the first time in 19 years when they beat Tampa Bay in the first round. Rookie goalie Joseph Woll had 41 saves in his first home playoff start.
In the extra period, Cousins buried his second goal of the playoffs off the rush short-side on Woll to send the Panthers to the conference finals for the first time since 1996.
Florida — the team with the fewest points to qualify for the postseason — won all three games in Toronto and improved to 6-1 on the road in the playoffs after also upsetting the record-setting Boston Bruins. The Panthers will next face the Carolina Hurricanes, who also beat the New Jersey Devils in five games.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, OILERS 3
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists, and Vegas moved one win from the Western Conference Final.
Mark Stone, Reilly Smith and Nic Hague also scored, and Jonathan Marchessault tied a franchise playoff record with three assists for the Golden Knights, who took a 3-2 series lead. Adin Hill had 31 saves.
Connor McDavid scored two power-play goals for the Oilers, Zach Hyman had a goal and an assist and Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each totaled two assists. Stuart Skinner was pulled late in the second period after giving up four goals on 22 shots, and Jack Campbell stopped all nine shots he faced in relief.
Game 6 on Sunday at Edmonton, Alberta.
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AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
The Associated Press
