Ontario’s Nick Cousins scored at 15:32 in overtime and the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games on Friday, finishing with a 3-2 win.
Aaron Ekblad (on the power play) and Carter Verhaeghe hit the mark in the first period, before the Leafs came back.
Morgan Rielly ate the lead in the middle period, then William Nylander tied the game at 15:33 in the third period.
Sergei Bobrovsky made no less than 50 saves.
Belleville hockey player Cousins scored his second goal of the playoffs by beating Joseph Woll on the short end.
His goal propelled the Panthers to the Eastern Finals for the first time since 1996.
Florida had 92 points in the regular season — the lowest total among clubs in the playoffs this year.
In the series that just ended, the Felines won each of the three games in Toronto by two goals or one.
Their road record this spring is 6-1, including the three wins in Boston.
The Eastern final will oppose them to the Carolina Hurricanes – also victorious in five games, against the New Jersey Devils.
Toronto was in the second round for the first time since 2004. The team beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.
Woll blocked 41 shots.
The quartet comprising Nylander, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares was limited to three goals against the Panthers.
The Maple Leafs have scored just 14 in their last seven playoff games.
That partly explains why they’ve only won one out of six at home in the 2023 playoffs.