Welcome to another edition of Around the NHL, where we take a look at current events across the league. With the playoffs in full swing, the Toronto Maple Leafs may be looking across the bracket, where the Florida Panthers have taken a 3-1 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning, while the Dallas Stars are up 3-2 on the Colorado Avalanche.

Everything can change in the span of 11 seconds, as the Florida Panthers fought back from a 2-1 deficit, scoring three unanswered goals to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Tuesday. Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones scored 11 seconds apart, while Carter Verhaeghe added an insurance goal with the empty net, as the Panthers have now pushed the Lightning to the brink of elimination.

“We’re up 3-1 and understand the job is not finished,” Jones said post-game via NHL.com. “Both teams played hard tonight, and there were a lot of ups and downs. They scored two back-to-back, and we stuck with it pretty well and got the win at the end of the day.’’

Few can forget the ill-fated ‘We want Florida!’ chants from two summers ago, but the bracket may be pointing towards a clash between the Leafs and Panthers at this rate. Count out the defending champions at your own peril.

Wyatt Johnston scored twice, while Mikko Rantanen recorded three points on the evening as the Dallas Stars routed the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 to take a 3-2 series lead. Johnston emerged as one of the NHL’s breakout stars last spring and he’s continued to be an integral part of the Stars, with five points during the series thus far.

“There were a lot of people before the series started and then after last game (doubting them). We know what was kind of the feeling in the hockey world about where we were at, and I think our guys wanted to prove that there’s a lot of pride in our group, and there’s a lot of playoff experience, and I think they showed all those things tonight,” Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said post-game.

Colorado was considered the favourite to win the series, especially it was revealed that Miro Heiskanen would miss the opening games of the series with a knee injury. Heiskanen has yet to suit up for the Stars in this year’s playoffs, but his team has rallied valiantly in his absence. Dallas can close the series out with a victory on Thursday.