TORONTO 鈥� Mitch Marner has experienced a whirlwind stretch 鈥� both at home and the rink.
Joseph Woll waited patiently and prepared for a chance he knew might not arrive.
Both provided clutch performances Wednesday in another massive victory for a tortured Original Six franchise looking to dethrone the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Marner scored the winner in the third period and Woll made 25 saves in place of the injured Anthony Stolarz as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Florida Panthers 4-3 to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.
"It's been a whirlwind," said Marner, who became a father for the first time over the weekend. "A really exciting time in my house 鈥� pretty special feeling tonight."
Pressed into service after Stolarz exited midway through Monday's opener 鈥� a 5-4 Toronto victory 鈥� following an elbow to the head from Panthers centre Sam Bennett, Woll started for the first time since April 17.
"It's been something I've had to focus on and come up with a plan to stay ready," said the goaltender. "It's a different challenge than playing every night, but a challenge nonetheless."
Woll, who entered with a .950 save percentage in his four previous playoff starts, also performed well when called upon in both the 2023 and 2024 post-seasons because of injury.
"Calm and cool," Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. "On his toes and fighting through traffic. Very impressed."
Max Pacioretty and Max Domi, with a goal and an assist each, and William Nylander provided the rest of the offence for Toronto. Morgan Rielly added two assists.
Anton Lundell, with a goal and an assist, Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand replied for Florida, which trails by two games in a series for the first time since the 2023 final. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots.
"Lots of stuff that we like about our game that we think we can improve," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "We'll take a look at it and get better."
The best-of-seven matchup between Atlantic Division heavyweights now shifts to South Florida, with Game 3 set for Friday.
The Leafs, who are in the second round for just the second time in the NHL's salary cap era, led 3-2 after two periods before the visitors got even at 5:33 of the third when Lundell shovelled his third goal of the playoffs past Woll.
But the home side 鈥� one far more resilient than past iterations 鈥� restored its lead just 17 seconds later when Marner fired a shot from the boards that found its way through traffic past a surprised Bobrovsky for his second.
Marner, who turned 28 on Monday, has added an "M" to his equipment since he and wife Stephanie welcomed their son Miles on Sunday morning.
"Just calmness," he said of what looking down and seeing that initial does for him. "I try to stay calm as much as I can throughout games. It's always a roller-coaster ride. There's always stuff going on, stuff you can't predict happening. I'm trying to play for him."
"Incredible moment in your life," Nylander added. "To be doing that and playing unbelievable hockey, it's just really special."
Woll was at full stretch with 9:59 left in regulation to make a huge stop on Mackie Samoskevich. Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe then swatted a loose puck out of the crease with under six minutes to go.
The Panthers continued to press and Sam Reinhart hit the post with just over three minutes on the clock before the Leafs held on late.
Florida, which beat Toronto in five games two years ago at the same stage of the playoffs, went ahead 2-1 just 15 seconds into the middle period when Marchand 鈥� a Leafs playoff nemesis as a member of the Boston Bruins 鈥� took a pass from Lundell down low and roofed his first.
Toronto got back even at 4:18 when Pacioretty found Nylander in front for him to bury his sixth, and the winger's seventh point in three games.
"They're very good on the rush," Marchand said. "It seemed like every time we gave them the opportunity to get above us, they created something or capitalized on it."
A hard-hitting, frenetic second period continued at a pulsating Scotiabank Arena with physical play on both sides.
The Leafs pushed in front 3-2 with 2:51 remaining when Domi buried his second on a 2-on-1 over a sprawling Bobrovsky.
Toronto got nothing from two disjointed power plays inside the game's opening 10 minutes. Florida, meanwhile, needed just five seconds on its first man advantage for Barkov to score his second at 10:58.
The Leafs got their third power play of the period when Dmitry Kulikov was whistled for delay of game.
Toronto again didn't get much going until the second unit took the ice. Rielly fired a shot from the point late that the 36-year-old Pacioretty 鈥� a healthy scratch to start the playoffs before scoring the series-clinching goal against the Ottawa Senators in the first round 鈥� tipped upstairs for his second with 1:41 left.
"We knew that they were going to play a very, very intense game," Pacioretty said. "We were able to match that."
Toronto will need even more Friday night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2025.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
