Maple Leafs tumble out of playoffs with overtime loss to Panthers
Things got off to a grim start with the Leafs trailing 2-0 after the first period and Florida showing an early killer instinct. The Panthers attacked Woll early — they thought they were too easy on the rookie goalie in Game 4 — and they were rewarded. An early power play helped the Panthers’ cause as Aaron Ekblad one-timied a pass for a 1-0 lead with five seconds left in a high-sticking call to McCabe. The Panthers had the lead and a 9-2 advantage in shots.
The Leafs started skating, got a couple of power plays of their own and owned most of the rest of the period. They pounded out shots — they finished the period up 13-12 — but couldn’t get a goal. Then Carter Verhaeghe scored late, off a rush — another one-timer that beat Woll — to give Florida a 2-0 lead and take some of the air out of an amped-up Scotiabank Arena crowd.
Eventually, as the referees huddled by the timekeeper, a replay showed the puck clearly over the line. The crowd erupted in joy. That quickly turned to anger when the officials declined to overturn the call, saying the whistle had been blown on the play. Bottles and other paraphernalia cascaded down with the boos and chants of “Refs suck.”
The league explained the call: “The referee deemed the play dead prior to the puck crossing the Florida line. The call was made in accordance to Rule 78.5 , which states apparent goals shall be disallowed ‘when the referee deems the play has been stopped, even if he had not physically had the opportunity to stop play by blowing his whistle.’ ”The playoffs have been about who gets the breaks.
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