• Sergei Bobrovsky’s shutout streak ended late in the third period, but he still made 32 saves.
• Depth players like Kulikov, Boqvist, Mikkola, and Greer scored key goals for Florida.

The Florida Panthers shut the Toronto Maple Leafs down – again – and are one win away from returning to the Stanley Cup conference finals.

Sergei Bobrovsky came within 1:06 of securing back-to-back shutouts to lead the Panthers to a 6-1 Game 5 victory over the Maple Leafs in Toronto on May 14. Florida will take a 3-2 lead back to Sunrise with a chance to close the series on May 16.

Bobrovsky went 143:25 without giving up a goal — starting late in the third period of Game 3 — before his skid was snapped. But that was not before another dominant 32-save performance.

“We’re definitely happy with where we’re at, but we’re also humbled and focused,” Bobrovsky said. “We just have to focus on the next shift, the next moment, and get ready.”

Aaron Ekblad opened the scoring with 5:22 to go in the first period. He fired a wrist shot off a feed from Sam Reinhart.

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Dmitry Kulikov extended Florida’s lead to two goals 6:08 into the second period. His slap shot from the point deflected off the stick of Toronto forward Scott Laughton and past Joseph Woll.

Jesper Boqvist made it 3-0 by tapping home a feed from Reinhart off the rush with 9:55 to go in the second period. Niko Mikkola extended that lead to four goals with a slap shot off the rush with 5:59 to go in the middle frame.

A.J. Greer tacked on a fifth Panthers goal 6:23 into the third period, tapping home a rebound after a Jonah Gadjovich shot hit Jake McCabe in the face. Sam Bennett added a sixth goal 9:10 into the third period with a quick wrist shot on a power play.

”At the end of the day, the job’s not done,” Ekblad said. “There’s still a lot of work to do — to go home, recover and have our best game at home in Game 6.”

Here are three takeaways from Florida’s Game 5 victory:

Jesper Boqvist steps up in Evan Rodrigues’ absence

With Evan Rodrigues out of the lineup after taking a high hit from Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Game 4, the Panthers opted to go with Jesper Boqvist over rookie Mackie Samoskevich on the first line next to Sam Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov.

Boqvist stepped up and notched a goal and an assist despite going 25 games without a point and 39 games without a goal to finish the regular season and in the first seven games of the postseason.

Florida coach Paul Maurice trusted Boqvist with the assignment because of his defensive acumen and his versatility and he delivered. He helped set up Florida’s first goal by staying aggressive on the forecheck and keeping the puck in the offensive zone before Ekblad eventually fired the shot that gave the Panthers the lead. He flashed his speed off the rush to notch his first goal since Jan. 25.

”He’s just got so much speed and he battles out there,” Reinhart said. “Any time you can get those legs, especially in a tight-checking series like this, it’s going to be a positive. He stepped in, was very comfortable and he made some big plays to help us tonight.”

Panthers depth continues to shine in big ways

Through the first 10 games of the postseason, the Panthers have already broken a franchise record with 17 different players scoring in this postseason run — and their Game 5 performance was a big sign of that.

Florida was able to beat Toronto without its usual suspects completely taking over the game. Four players — Kulikov, Boqvist, Mikkola and Greer — all scored their first goals of the postseason. The Panthers got three of their goals from defensemen and had all four forward lines on the ice for at least one of the goals.

“They don’t get on the magazines,” Maurice said. “It’s special when those guys score.”

The Panthers have enough talent to where not one player has to take over the game on a day-to-day basis, and in Game 5, it was the entire roster that pitched in to steal a game in Toronto.

Florida continues to slow down Toronto’s rush attack

Ever since the midway point of Game 3, the Panthers have started to play their game and it has flipped the series on its head. Florida has gotten to its forecheck, stabilized its gap game on transition and has found the answer to slowing down the speedy Maple Leafs.

Game 5 was a perfect example of that. The Panthers held the Maple Leafs to just eight high-danger shots and one shot off the rush. Florida held onto the puck for the majority of the game and continued to hem Toronto in its own end and it led to an onslaught.

”I think they did a great job,” Bobrovsky said. “They played a hard gap game. Very simple, struck hard as a unit — all five guys. So, this was a good one.”