Panthers rout Leafs in Game 7 to advance

NHL PLAYOFFS

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Panthers left wing Jonah Gadjovich, center, celebrates with teammates after his second-period goal during Sunday’s Game 7 win. Frank Gunn / The Canadian Press via AP

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Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves, Florida scored three times in a 6:24 span in the second period and the Panthers routed the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 in Game 7 on Sunday night in Toronto to advance to the Eastern Conference final.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers will play the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference final, opening on the road Tuesday night.

Seth Jones, Anton Lundell and Jonah Gadjovich scored in the second-period burst and Eetu Luostarinen, Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand — into an empty net — added goals in the third. Marchand, Luostarinen and Aleksander Barkov each had two assists.

Maxi Domi scored for Toronto. Joseph Woll stopped 28 shots.

Jones opened the scoring at 3:15 of the second, beating Woll to the far post with a shot from the right side. Lundell struck at 7:18, putting in a rebound. Gadjovich followed at 9:39 off another rebound.

Domi cut it to 3-1 at 2:07 of the third, beating Bobrovsky between the legs. Luostarinen countered 47 seconds later for Florida, and Reinhart scored at 9:24.

Referee Chris Rooney left 13 seconds into the second period after Florida’s Niko Mikkola was jousting for the puck and his stick went into Rooney’s face. Garrett Rank took Rooney’s spot.

FINAL FOUR IS SET

The NHL playoff field included some unexpected entrants, and the first two rounds featured some surprises.

Yet the teams still in contention for the Stanley Cup are a familiar mix of those who have been fighting for it the past few years.

The West final is a rematch of this same round last year with the Dallas Stars facing the Edmonton Oilers. The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers are in the East final for a third consecutive spring and next face the Carolina Hurricanes with these teams meeting at this stage for the second time in three years.

That was a sweep, with Florida winning each time by a goal. The banged-up Panthers lost to the Golden Knights in the final but learned lessons that helped them win it all last year.

“We’ve already been in a conference final, and we know what’s going to happen there,” said Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov, whose eight goals are second in the postseason to only Mikko Rantanen. “It’s not going to be easy there.”