Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 21: Marchand, Hellebuyck shine as Panthers, Jets respond

Scott Maxwell
Scott Maxwell(scotmaxw)
May 10, 2025, 00:37 EDT
Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during overtime in game three of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena.
Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are back, which means that for the next two months, we’ll get non-stop exciting action in the NHL as we witness history in another team looking to win a championship. Here at Daily Faceoff, we’ll be keeping you in the loop of everything that happened in the playoffs, every day until the Stanley Cup is hoisted in June.

Marchand’s overtime winner cuts Leafs series lead in half

So far in this second round matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, it has been a lot more high-scoring than anticipated. With the Leafs being more of a defensive team, and the Panthers also having a strong defense and goaltending, averaging eight goals a game through the first two games wasn’t exactly expected.

That pattern continued in Game 3, as the Leafs exploded to 2-0 and 3-1 leads, before quickly blowing it and finding themselves down 4-3 going into the third period. Morgan Rielly managed to tie the game in the third to send it to overtime, but the Panthers still found a way to get the win, with Brad Marchand scoring the winner to draw closer in the series, now just at 2-1 for the Leafs.

For more on how high-scoring the series has been, and how goaltending may wind up being important in the series, check out Steven Ellis’ piece on Game 3.

Hellebuyck gets first playoff shutout since 2021 to tie series for Jets

Connor Hellebuyck has been one of the biggest question marks for not just the Winnipeg Jets, but the playoffs as a whole. After watching the Dallas Stars‘ top player in Mikko Rantanen dominate in Game 1, the Jets needed more from their best player, and he delivered. While the Jets did a great job defensively in front of him, Hellebuyck played his best game of the playoffs, turning away 21 shots and 2.25 expected goals in the winning effort.

Along with Hellebuyck, the Jets also got big goals from big players in the win. Gabriel Vilardi and Nikolaj Ehlers opened up the scoring with early first period goals, and for both of them, it was their first goals of the playoffs. Then the first round hero in Adam Lowry made it a 3-0 lead midway through the game, and they road that lead for most of the way, with Ehlers getting his second with an empty net goal in the third. The Jets took the game by a score of 4-0, and tie the series at 1-1.

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