Bobrovsky stops 23 shots, Panthers top Maple Leafs 2-0 in Game 4 to tie series

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — It's a formula the Florida Panthers keep using in the playoffs: Take a lead after two periods, then let Sergei Bobrovsky and the defense do the rest.

And it worked again.

Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots for his fifth career playoff shutout, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett scored and the Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 on Sunday night in Game 4 to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Florida has won 25 consecutive playoff games when leading after two periods, a streak that goes back to May 5, 2022.

“It’s a series," Bobrovsky said. “The bigger games are ahead, so we’re excited about them. The series comes down to a best-of-three, so it's a big game, next one.”

Home-ice advantage has held, and Toronto will hope that trend continues in Game 5 on Wednesday night. The Leafs won Games 1 and 2 at home, then dropped Games 3 and 4 in Sunrise.

"We had looks," Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “They're doing a good job of swarming us with numbers, obviously. ... It's a battle out there. This is what it is. They don't give you a lot.”

Verhaeghe scored on a power play — Florida's fourth of the game — in the first period, Bennett added the insurance score with 7:50 left and Bobrovsky did the rest for his second shutout of this postseason.

Joseph Woll stopped 35 shots for the Maple Leafs.

“He was great,” Berube said. “He played an excellent game."

Verhaeghe's goal came after Matthew Tkachuk, along the left-wing boards, threaded a pass through the slot and past two defenders. It found Verhaeghe — who slammed a one-timer past Woll.

That was part of an early spree for Florida. The Panthers took 21 of the game's first 26 shots on net, controlling play for long stretches and keeping all the action in front of Woll. He held firm, time and again, keeping Toronto in it.

Bennett said enough.

He came in from Woll's left, with Verhaeghe opposite him, looking for a passing lane. When none appeared, Bennett went to the front of the net, watched Woll commit, then pushed the puck into the net before punching the air.

“That was more like the type of Panthers playoff hockey that we're used to,” Bennett said.

It got chippy late, as games this late in a series tend to do.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson — part of the Florida team that won the Stanley Cup last season — delivered a shot to the head and neck area of Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues about five minutes into in the third period. It was originally called a major, then downgraded to a minor after review.

Rodrigues will need further evaluation Monday, Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

And four players — Toronto’s Max Domi for boarding Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov; and Toronto’s Bobby McMann, Florida’s Aaron Ekblad and Panthers forward Brad Marchand on his 37th birthday — all got 10-minute misconducts as time expired.

“I think he'll be all right," Maurice said about Barkov.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice, center right, shouts instructions at his team during the second period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sunday, May 11, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) shoots against Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) during the first period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Sunday, May 11, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe (23) celebrates after scoring during the first period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sunday, May 11, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe (23) celebrates after scoring during the first period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sunday, May 11, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) catches the puck in front of Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) during the first period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Sunday, May 11, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

NEW YORK (AP) — Saying “We don’t want to see ‘60 Minutes’ die,” the three remaining correspondents at the turmoil-plagued CBS News program have decided to stay, for now.

A memo from Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker to fellow staffers expressed anger — and grief — over the recent firings at the show, and said the three had had “a hard time” deciding whether to remain.

“Here’s why we are staying: We don’t want to see ‘60 Minutes’ die,” the three wrote in the joint memo obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.

They expressed their regret over the recent firings of colleagues implemented by Bari Weiss, the new CBS News editor-in-chief, and the executive producer she installed last week, Nick Bilton. He replaced Tanya Simon, who was let go after a 30-plus year tenure with the show. Also dismissed were correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, among other top staffers. Scott Pelley was then fired this week after a tense confrontation with CBS News bosses.

“We want to express how sorry we are that these principled, fair and honest journalists were treated so shabbily, with such indecency," the three correspondents said in their memo. But they said they were “working to build trust” with Bilton, their new boss, and left open the possibility that they could leave later, if need be.

“If we can continue doing the work that made this show what it is — committing acts of independent, fearless journalism and storytelling — we’re here for it," the three wrote. “If not, we leave.”

“Here’s to Season 59!” the note ended.

Persuading the three to remain was a crucial step in Bilton’s task of getting the show back on track for the next season, which launches in September.

The show is suddenly down four correspondents. In addition to the three dismissed, Anderson Cooper — whose primary job is on-air work for CNN — said earlier this year he was leaving of his own accord after two decades.

Turmoil had been evident at “60 Minutes” for more than a year. Much of it came after President Donald Trump sued the show over its editing of a 2024 interview with then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

That became part of a broader shake-up at CBS News after Weiss was named to the new role of editor-in-chief by parent company Paramount late last year following David Ellison’s arrival as the network’s corporate leader.

Ellison’s company, Skydance, merged with CBS parent company Paramount, which later settled the Trump lawsuit for $16 million. That upset some at “60 Minutes” and many believe it indirectly led to the departure last month of popular longtime CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, who had called the settlement “a big fat bribe.”

CBS News has been at the center of the American broadcast-news ecosystem since its radio days before the dawn of television, though Weiss earlier this year announced the shutdown of CBS News' radio operation. The network's nightly newscast was seen for decades as one of the most widely trusted institutions in the nation under longtime anchorman Walter Cronkite.

Noveck covers the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press.

FILE - Against a backdrop of the famous "60 Minutes" stop watch, Don Hewitt, the program's creator and executive producer, reads prepared remarks to reporters during a session on "60 Minutes" during CBS' Winter Press Tour in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Jan. 17, 2004. (AP Photo/Rene Macura, File)

FILE - Scott Pelley, anchor of "CBS Evening News," at the CBS Upfront in New York, May 15, 2013. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - The "60 Minutes" team, from left, Andy Rooney, Morley Safer, Steve Kroft, Mike Wallace, executive producer Don Hewitt, Lesley Stahl, and Ed Bradley pose at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York celebrating their 25th anniversary, on Nov. 10, 1993. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)