• 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.

More: Florida Panthers official from Jupiter suspended by NHL after disturbing social media posts

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.”

TAMPA, Fla. – As Florida’s homeowners dispute insurance denials from last year’s hurricanes, state reforms intended to improve service and bring down our bills are coming under scrutiny.

The backstory:

In 2022, the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis made it harder to sue home insurance companies and offered those companies additional state-backed reinsurance – state money to subsidize the private market.

Before this passed, some lawmakers doubted subsidies for the insurance companies and making it harder for consumers to sue them would help consumers.

“It’s corporate welfare. It’s only helping big businesses, and my constituents are not going to feel any relief as a result of it,” said Michael Grieco, who served as a Democratic state representative from 2018-22.

READ: Home insurance nightmares continue months after 2024 hurricanes

Then in 2023, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed DeSantis delivered the biggest insurance bailout in history and crushed Florida homeowners whose houses were destroyed. Trump claimed Florida’s insurance commissioner did nothing, while Floridians’ lives were ruined.

For context, Trump and DeSantis were running against each other at the time.

Dig deeper:

State lawmakers said it would take more time for their changes to pay off. They said we would need to wait a year and a half to see the results.

However, homeowners reported their premiums continued to rise through 2023.

For example, in Pinellas County, Dave Lesko’s home insurance bill increased from $5,500 to $7,500 in 2023, after he had renovated and bolstered it with stronger windows. Then in 2024, his bill rose to $17,000.

“I thought so at first I read the number wrong. I had to get my glasses and double-check, but it’s correct and it’s actually a 120% increase from last year,” Lesko said.

Then Florida took hits from Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton.

And Weiss Ratings found a sharp increase in damage claim denials compared to prior storms in prior years.

“Some of the bigger providers in the state have denial rates close to 50%, so half of the claims are being denied,” said Weiss Ratings founder Dr. Martin Weiss.

Weiss Ratings shows 14 property insurers in Florida closed more than half their claims in 2024 with no payments. Weiss notes that does not include claims that fall outside the policy’s coverage (like mistakenly filing flood claims on a home policy).

Florida home insurance: Reviewing the impact on state reforms

In Washington, U.S. Republican Senator Josh Hawley flagged the rise in denial rates in calling for a congressional investigation.

The Republican Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, cited Florida’s reforms as a model for what not to do.

“They tried wholesale tort reform that insurance companies said would lower rates in Florida and today, policyholders in Florida struggle to get the very claims paid on the policies they paid for,” Gov. Jeff Landry said.

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The other side:

Florida’s insurance commissioner disagrees. Michael Yaworsky notes more insurance companies are doing business in Florida. He said rates have leveled off in Florida, and some are going down.

“We are seeing that stability has emerged throughout the marketplace,” Yaworsky said.

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After losing a commitment from four-star linebacker Izayia Williams, who is now on his fifth commitment after flipping to Ole Miss, the Florida Gators are poised to replace him with another high-ranked recruit.

Four-star Malik Morris of Lakeland (Fla.) on Tuesday revealed his final six schools of Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Miami, Missouri and Texas A&M. Morris (6-1, 225 pounds) is rated as the nation’s No. 8 linebacker prospect and No. 131 overall prospect in the class of 2026, according to Rivals.

While Florida will have to fend off strong recruiting from rivals Miami, Georgia and Alabama, the Gators appear to be the front runner after earning a string of predictions to receive a pledge from Morris.

On3’s Corey Bender and Blake Alderman both gave predictions in March and April for Morris to end up with Florida.

The Gators will have a chance to seal the deal this summer when Morris takes an official visit with the program on June 13 after visits Miami on May 30 and Texas A&M on June 6. Morris has not announced a scheduled commitment date.

“Florida fits right in my heart, man,” Morris told On3 in March after an unofficial visit. “I like a lot of places, but Florida fits in my heart. It’s just something special. I’m taking these trips and getting the experiences.”

A pledge from Morris would immediate boost the Gators’ 2026 recruiting class, which is left with one pledge in four-star quarterback Will Griffin after recent decommitments from Williams, four-star safety Devin Jackson and four-star corner Jaelen Waters.

However, the Gators are in a strong position to build its class with a heavy official visit schedule this summer and with predictions to land a slew of recruits in Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy interior offensive lineman G’Nivre Carr, Dyke (Va.) four-star defensive lineman Valdin Stone, Cocoa (Fla.) four-star defensive back CJ Hester and Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy tight end Kekua Aumua.