Maple Leafs lose McMann in 5-1 loss to Panthers – Hockey Writers – Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs entered Wednesday's game against their Atlantic Division rival the Florida Panthers on a hot streak without their captain in the lineup. In fact, the story early on for the Maple Leafs this season has been their need to tap into their depth with multiple starters out of the lineup.

On Wednesday, the Maple Leafs added insult to injury when Bobby McMann was forced to leave a game against the Panthers while those same Panthers continued to beat the Maple Leafs to a 5-1 victory.

As for the Panthers, the story was their special teams as they performed at even strength, on the powerplay while killing penalties. In fact, the Panthers had a goal in every situation against his former teammate, Anthony Stolarz, who didn't look like the Stolarz we've seen this season.

For those who missed it, though, here's a quick recap of the Panthers' latest win.

The Panthers' Special Teams Were the Story

It took less than five minutes for the Panthers to jump ahead and it came on the powerplay as Aleksander Barkov ripped home Stolarz's fifth goal of the season. Less than a minute later, Mackie Samoskevich scored the fourth at even strength to put the Panthers up 2-0 – a lead the Maple Leafs would never come back from.

Related: How NHL Teams Are Navigating the Injury Bug This Season

The Maple Leafs opened the second with strong play, but with just under three minutes left in the frame, it was a shorthanded goal by Sam Reinhart that put the sword in the hands of the away team. The Panthers added another powerplay goal in the third period with an empty netter to cover and with Mitch Marner able to score his powerplay goal in the second frame, it was the Panthers' special teams that drove the pace. of playing.

At times, the game didn't look like a 5-1 game, but the scoreboard told a different story for the Maple Leafs.

Maple Leafs lose McMann

Regarding the ongoing tests the Maple Leafs were forced to face this season with their depth, the team played the third period without McMann, who left the game with a lower leg injury.

He becomes the eighth Maple Leafs forward to be sidelined with an injury and while there was no real update after the game, head coach Craig Berube said he was working day-to-day and they will check back on Thursday.

On Wednesday it was clear that the Maple Leafs lacked deep scoring, but how much of that can be attributed to their injuries? However, with Max Domi, Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies among others out, it is clear that the Maple Leafs have some experience on the roster.

“It's worrying, but I hope we'll get the guys back here for the next game,” said Berube about the team's bad luck with injuries this season following the defeat.

Stolarz Takes the Heat

Before the game, three former members of the Panthers' received their Stanley Cup rings from the team – including Stlarz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Steven Lorentz.

While it was an exciting time for the trio, all of whom were key players in last season's World Cup winning team, Stolarz admits he would have liked to have seen a different result for his team.

“Emotions were high, but obviously we would have liked a different result especially in my debut,” said the Maple Leafs goalkeeper. “I think I could have done one of these early and kept it tight. He looks the other way, too [Bobrovsky] he was making saves to keep them ahead by two goals.”

Stolarz stopped 19 of 23 shots he faced and finished with an .826 save percentage and 4.14 goals against average — which was, by far, his worst outing of the season.

The Maple Leafs will look to bounce back Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Lighting in Tampa, while the Panthers will look to make it back-to-back wins against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday after snapping their four-game skid.