Florida Panthers’ Josh Mahura takes puck to the face, leaks blood all over ice

While Mahura appeared to be in a great deal of pain, it didn’t deter him from reentering the game. After getting stitched up in the dressing room, Mahura made his way back onto the ice for the third period.

Mahura logged 9:28 of ice time in the Florida’s win, giving them a 2-0 series advantage after a 4-2 victory in Game 1 Tuesday. Mahura, who signed a one-year deal with Panthers this past offseason, is playing in his first playoff series. After suiting up in 79 games over four seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, he featured in all 82 games for the Panthers during the 2022-23 regular season. He recorded a career-high four goals and 12 assists for 16 points to go along with a +17.

Panthers continue unlikely run in Stanley Cup playoffs

After upsetting the Boston Bruins in the first-round, the Panthers are halfway home to knocking off the Maple Leafs. Toronto jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead in Game 2 after goals from forwards Alexander Kerfoot and Ryan O’Reilly. Florida countered with a goal of its own at 11:13 in the first, a snap shot from forward Anton Lundell to beat Toronto netminder Ilya Samsonov.

Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov and defenseman Gustav Forsling scored 47 seconds apart in the second period to take a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish.

“It’s perspective,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said, via ESPN. “That’s five games in nine nights of as intense, emotional pressure you can put on a hockey team. We’ve been on an airplane for a while. We didn’t think we had much in our legs.

“It was just about character and it was just about fighting through it and battling.”

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe, meanwhile, came away discouraged with his team’s performance.

“Disappointing, baffling,” Keefe said. “We didn’t make those mistakes one time in the last series.”

The series shifts to Sunrise for Games 3 and 4 as the Panthers look to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.