Bobrovsky shines as Panthers survive blown lead to beat Maple Leafs in series opener

Sheldon Keefe watched his team commit two mistakes — blunders he didn't see in the first round of the playoffs — that directly led to goals against.

After the Maple Leafs recovered to get back even, another costly error wound up being one too many to overcome.

Toronto now finds itself in the exact spot it was in after Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning — trailing the series and looking for answers.

"They force you to make mistakes," said Keefe, Toronto's head coach. "But I thought we made some mistakes that we didn't necessarily make in the last series."

Sam Bennett, with a goal and an assist, Nick Cousins and Brandon Montour provided the rest of the offence for Florida, which roared back from a 3-1 deficit to stun the record-setting Boston Bruins with three straight victories and take that first-round matchup in seven games Sunday. Aleksander Barkov had two assists.

"If we're a little fatigued because that [Bruins] series was heavy, it's kind of our normal day," said Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, whose group had less than 48 hours to recover before hitting the ice in Toronto. "When you look at our schedule at the end of January, it was brutal. And that's when we started to play our best hockey.

"So being in the mud, as we would say, we're kind of used to it."

WATCH l Panthers steal Game 1 in Toronto:

Matthew Knies, with his first NHL goal, and Michael Bunting replied for Toronto.

The Leafs ended a generation of misery Saturday when John Tavares scored in overtime of Game 6 against Tampa to see the Original Six franchise advance in the post-season for the first time since 2004, but were unable to carry that momentum forward.

Ilya Samsonov stopped 24 shots for the Leafs, who host Game 2 with the Panthers on Thursday before the series shifts to South Florida.

"They played well," said Toronto defenceman Luke Schenn, whose team lost 7-3 to the Lightning in Game 1 on the same ice last round. "But a lot of the goals that were scored were self-inflicted.

"We still have a lot more to give."

Tied 2-2 late in the second period with the Leafs pushing, the never-say-die visitors — the Bruins learned that first-hand — responded to silence Scotiabank Arena's towel-waving crowd.