The Toronto Maple Leafs had more than one reason to celebrate following Monday’s 5-4 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of their second-round series.
On top of starting the matchup against the reigning champions with a win, the Leafs witnessed history after Morgan Rielly’s first-period goal to double Toronto’s lead at the time.
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The Maple Leafs wasted no time celebrating Morgan Rielly’s milestone moment, posted on X, “Taking back the MOmentum!! 😤,” with a video of the goal that gave the Leafs a 3–1 lead.
The NHL quickly followed up, highlighting Rielly’s achievement.
“Morgan Rielly scored his 14th career playoff goal to surpass Ian Turnbull for the most by a defenseman in @MapleLeafs history.”
The goal came at a crucial time. Florida had just pulled within one on a power-play goal by Seth Jones when William Nylander found Rielly for a 2-on-1 with John Tavares.
Rielly fired a wrist shot past Sergei Bobrovsky’s blocker, restoring Toronto’s two-goal lead.
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“I thought it was a good effort,” Rielly said. “A good start was important, but it’s going to be a long one, so enjoy it but then we’ll get right back to work.”
Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly (44) celebrates a goal against the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena.John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Nylander opened the scoring just 33 seconds in and added another at 12:51, drawing praise from former NHL defenseman P.K. Subban.
Chris Tanev made it 4-1 in the second before the Panthers rallied late, scoring back-to-back goals in the second frame before Matthew Knies added a fifth goal to the Leafs’ tally, followed by Sam Bennett’s late goal to wrap up the final 5-4.
Joseph Woll made 17 saves in relief of Anthony Stolarz, who exited after taking a hit to the head, showing concerning symptoms, and prompting reactions from both the Maple Leafs and the Panthers’ head coaches.
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With the win, Toronto takes a 1-0 lead into Game 2 on Wednesday night, again at home, before the series shifts to Florida for Games 3 and 4.
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