Luostarinen, Samoskevich push Panthers past Maple Leafs 6-2

Florida Panthers forward Mackie Samoskevich (11) protects the puck from Maple Leafs defenceman Simon Benoit (2) in Toronto on Saturday, April 11, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

Eetu Luostarinen and Mackie Samoskevich had a goal and two assists each as the Florida Panthers cruised past the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2 on Saturday night.

Tomas Nosek, with two goals, Cole Reinhardt and A.J. Greer, into the empty net to go along with an assist, provided the rest of the offence for Florida (38-38-4).

Daniil Tarasov made 17 saves for the Panthers, who snapped a four-game slide (0-3-1).

William Nylander replied with a pair of goals for Toronto (32-34-14), which got 19 stops from Joseph Woll in the club’s fifth straight loss (0-4-1).

Both poised to miss the playoffs, the Maple Leafs and Panthers met in the second round of last spring’s post-season, with Florida topping Toronto in seven games before going on to hoist the Stanley Cup for a second straight June.

The Panthers, who started play one spot above Saturday’s opponent at 26th overall in the NHL standings, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period before Nosek made it 3-0 in the second.

Nylander scored on a power play midway through the period, and added another to make it 3-2 through 40 minutes. Samoskevich made it 4-2 in the third. Greer and Nosek iced it into the empty net.

Takeaways

Panthers: The two-time defending champs have shut a number of key players down with the playoffs out of reach and injuries piling up. Regulars done for the campaign include forwards Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues, along with blueliners Aaron Ekblad, Dmitry Kulikov and Seth Jones. Wilmer Skoog made his NHL debut at forward.

Maple Leafs: Head coach Craig Berube said following the morning skate that goaltender Anthony Stolarz, defenceman Brandon Carlo and forward Dakota Joshua are all done for the season with injuries. William Villeneuve made his league debut on defence.

Key moment

Nosek bagged his first goal of a season delayed by knee surgery when he fired past Woll at 1:32 of the second.

Key stat

Despite a miserable season on the ice and in the standings, Toronto entered Saturday with the league’s fourth-best penalty kill at 82.0 per cent.

Up next

Panthers: Host the New York Rangers on Monday

Maple Leafs: Host the Dallas Stars on Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2026.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press