Panthers lose fourth straight at home, fall into cellar of Eastern Conference

The two teams with the least amount of points in the Eastern Conference met on Tuesday night in Sunrise.

It’s been surprising starts to the season for both the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs, who have met in two of the past three postseasons.

In the first of four meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals, it was Toronto that came away with two points, sending the Panthers to their fourth straight loss on home ice by a final score of 4-1.

Toronto didn’t register a shot on goal until over five minutes into the game, but they made that first one count.

A point shot by Troy Stecher found its way through a maze of bodies and past Sergei Bobrovsky to give the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at the 5:24 mark.

A mishandling of the puck by Panthers defenseman Jeff Petry led to a second Toronto goal exactly two and a half minutes later.

Petry’s bobble gave the puck to Joshua, who left it for Bobby McMann as Joshua cut to the net. A quick return pass by McMann to a wide-open Joshua at the doorstep and just like that it was 2-0 Toronto.

That’s how the score would remain until late in the second period, when Florida finally got themselves on the scoreboard despite playing down a man.

With Aaron Ekblad in the penalty box for hooking, Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell pushed up the ice for a shorthanded opportunity.

Initially, the puck ended up in the corner to the right of Joseph Woll, but Lundell won it back and fed Reinhart all alone in front of the net. Reinhart patiently outwaited Woll and deposited the puck into a yawning cage with 5:17 left in the period.

Florida continued to push for an equalizing goal, Scott Laughton jumped on a loose puck in front of Bobrovsky after it jumped over the stick of Aaron Ekblad and popped it in the net to make it 3-1 Leafs with 7:42 to go.

A John Tavares empty-net goal with 18.6 on the clock was the final notable moment of the night.

On to the Predators.

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Photo caption: Dec 2, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) shoots the puck but cannot score against Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)