The Florida Panthers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in Friday night’s game 3 in Sunrise, Florida, with notorious Leaf-killer Brad Marchand getting the nod for the game winning goal. Marchand scored on a deflected shot with less than 5 minutes remaining in the first overtime frame.

John Tavares scored twice, and Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly also added goals for the Maple Leafs. Joseph Woll stopped 32 shots in a hard fought effort, but letting in a few weak goals ultimately cost the Leafs in this one.

Just like game 2, the Leafs got on the board within the first minute of the game. This time, it was Matthew Knies, scoring in a wide open net to open the scoring for the Maple Leafs. With just less than 6 minutes gone in the game, John Tavares scored his first of the night to make it 2-0 Leafs. Just like that, the Panthers were on their heels and in trouble quickly.

The first Panthers goal was credited to Alex Barkov, as he threw the puck to the Leaf net and it bounced off Morgan Rielly’s stick and past Woll.

The Florida momentum didn’t last long however, as John Tavares scored again with another tip in goal for his second of the game, and fifth of the postseason. Florida was getting outworked and outplayed. They needed a call to go their way to shift the momentum, and it came.

Sam Reinhart scored on a goal that was reviewed and confirmed when the puck was loose in the crease, but eventually found its way in when Joe Woll and Brandon Carlo tried to keep it out. Just over a minute later, Carter Verhaeghe tied it 3-3 when Sam Bennett skated in on a 2-on-1, waited out a diving Ekman-Larsson and gave a cross-slot pass to Verhaeghe for an open net tap-in.

“We didn’t play through the pressure as well,” Tavares said when letting a lead slip away.

Florida fourth-liner Jonah Gadjovich gave Florida its first lead of the night, 4-3, with less than 5 minutes left in the middle frame. Tomas Nosek had his shot deflect off Gadjovich’s leg before going under Woll’s blocker.

After the lucky bounce on Barkov’s goal, Toronto needed to get one back. Coincidentally, Morgan Rielly tied it 4-4 just inside the second half of the third period. Rielly’s shot from the right boards was stopped by the blocker of Bobrovsky, but the puck deflected into the net off the leg of Florida defender Seth Jones. Toronto closed the period on a penalty kill due to a Max Pacioretty tripping call.

The overtime period was long winded, but both teams battled right up until the goal. Toronto was gassed on their final shift, but nonetheless it was a goal that should not have gone in.

Overall, the Leafs’ performance was fine. Their first couple periods were great for the most part. They outworked the Panthers heavily in the first period, not giving them many opportunities and capitalizing on the ones they got. They’ll have to tighten up later in the game if they want to be able to close out a series against these feisty Florida Panthers. Game 4 in Sunrise is Sunday.