“There’s some frustration, for sure,” Reinhart said of tonight’s loss. “A lot of things have gone right for us over the last few years, and that certainly adds to it. We’ve been in this position before. It’s going to be the guys in the room and the guys that are healthy to get us out of it. The compete, the work, was there. We’re going to find a way to stick with it.”

With the Panthers on the power play in the third period, Bobrovsky kept the Maple Leafs from netting their own shorthanded goal when he robbed Nicolas Roy on a 2-on-1 rush.

Soon after, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner stood tall and denied Bobby McMann on a breakaway.

“Ideally, you let him have one big save to kind of turn it around, but he was having to make three or four,” Reinhart said of Bobrovsky’s big third period. “That’s what he constantly does, especially as the games go on and get tighter. We know that.”

But after being denied on those two quality looks, it was an odd bounce that helped the Maple Leafs regain their cushion. After the puck skipped toward the net and bounced off Bobrovsky’s pads, Scott Laughton found the rubber and scored to make it 3-1 at 12:18.

At 19:41, John Tavares locked in the 4-1 win for Toronto with an empty-net goal.

Even with a depleted lineup, the Panthers believe there’s a path to points on the horizon.

“This is what we’ve got and that’s why you’ve got to find a new way to grind,” Maurice said. “Maybe new wins at times and build your confidence in smaller pieces in the game and not look at the record as the forward motion. You always start playing a little bit better before you start winning, and I think we’ve had that in our games. We have to have a bit of patience with what we’re doing.”

THEY SAID IT

“He made a bunch of big saves. When our game does slightly open up when it needs to at points, he made a whole bunch of big saves, for sure.” – Paul Maurice on Sergei Bobrovsky’s performance

“Super special day for myself, my family, grandparents, everyone. Big fans of the game, so everyone was jacked up.” – Jack Studnicka on making his Panthers debut

“It’s easy to focus on the lack of offense, the lack of production, right now. The thing that’s going to turn it around for us is just tightening it up.” – Sam Reinhart on Florida’s recent stretch

“We have a good team. We have good coaches. We believe in each other.” – Sergei Bobrovsky

CATS STATS

– Jesper Boqvist had a team-high four hits.

– Aaron Ekblad and Mackie Samoskevich each blocked three shots.

– The Panthers trailed 27-23 in scoring chances at 5-on-5.

– Sergei Bobrovsky made eight high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will look to break out of their current slump when they host the Nashville Predators at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.