TORONTO — Despite the absence of his star Florida Panthers teammate Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett is still thriving after his Four Nations Faceoff experience with Canada.
TORONTO — Despite the absence of his star Florida Panthers teammate Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett is still thriving after his Four Nations Faceoff experience with Canada.
Bennett scored twice to help the Stanley Cup winners defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Thursday, replacing the injured Tkachuk on the power play.
In front of 19,201 spectators at Scotiabank Arena, Tkachuk scored on a power play late in the first period and again in the second to give the Panthers (41-22-3) who lead the Atlantic Division their seventh victory in eight games.
The second-place Maple Leafs (39-23-3) lost for the fourth time in five games, failing to defeat a Panthers team that also missing newcomer Brad Marchand (upper body) and Aaron Ekblad (suspension).
“We don’t look the same without those guys, but we play the same way,” Florida head coach Paul Maurice said.
“Matthew is irreplaceable on the power play, but Sam has stepped up pretty good.”
Bennett is three weeks removed from helping Canada defeat Tkachuk and the United States in the Four Nations final.
The 28-year-old forward scored the tying 2-2 goal in Canada’s 3-2 overtime win and has returned to the Panthers to score four times with nine points in nine games.
“You can learn a lot from a tournament like that with all the talent there, and seeing how hard everyone competes and takes care of themselves off the ice,” Bennett said.
“All the little things that make the best players in the world, the best players in the world. I definitely was watching some guys pretty closely.”
When asked if there was anybody in particular Bennett didn’t hesitate to add, “Yeah, the two big dogs. Sid (Crosby) and Nate (MacKinnon).”
Bennett has 22 goals with 18 games remaining this season. He’s just six shy of his career-high of 28.
Bennett hails from Holland Landing, a small community about 50 minutes north of Toronto. The Panthers forward still gets a kick out of returning home to play in front of friends and family.
“I always love playing here,” he said. “Every time I play here, I get lots of support. It’s special any time you can play in front of people who grew up with you and have been supporting me my entire career.”
While the Panthers played without three of their best players, the Maple Leafs saw the return of Chris Tanev (upper body) after a six-game absence.
This was Toronto’s playoff lineup, excluding Max Pacioretty, who was injured.
Special teams made the difference. Florida went 2-for-3 on the power play that night, while the Maple Leafs went 0 for 3.
Craig Berube, the head coach of Toronto, stated, “I thought we did a lot of good things.” “You’re constantly trying to improve.” We need to overcome this and improve. However, it was a challenging game, and we competed fiercely. Out there, the hockey game was close and difficult. They took advantage of our power-play opportunities, which we missed.
The Panthers’ other goal was scored by defenseman Niko Mikkola.
Max Domi responded for Toronto, and John Tavares responded with his 27th.
25–25 shots were on goal. Against his old team this season, Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz suffered his second defeat in two starts.
Mikkola and Bennett scored in the second period after Tavares and Bennett traded goals in the first.
At 4:26 into the final period, Domi pulled the Maple Leafs within 3-2 after catching the Panthers on a bad line change. Sergei Bobrovsky, the Panthers’ goalie, however, shut down the home team for the remainder of the game.
The Canadian Press first released this report on March 13, 2025.
