Florida Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs
· National Hockey League
Leafs, Matthews pounce on Panthers for 4-1 win
Easton Cowan also scored for the Maple Leafs and Bobby McMann added an empty-net goal.
Former Maple Leafs draft pick Carter Verhaeghe broke Joseph Woll’s shutout bid with 8:22 remaining as Toronto won its sixth straight at Scotiabank Arena. The Panthers have been blanked only once this season.
Knies made it 2-0 early in the second period. Then, less than four minutes later, he set up Matthews with a pass in front for the captain’s team-leading 21st.
Former Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin was in attendance. He was part of a pregame ceremony to mark Matthews becoming the all-time franchise leader in goals. Sundin had the mark at 420. Matthews now sits at 422.
Matthews has seven goals and 11 points in five games since the three-day Christmas break and was foiled by Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky on an early-game power-play breakaway.
Florida outshot the home side 32-23.
This was the Panthers first visit to Toronto since hammering the Maple Leafs 6-1 in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series on May 18. Toronto has won both meetings this season by a combined score of 7-2.
Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo (foot surgery) returned to the lineup after a 23-game absence.
Panthers forward Brad Marchand did not play in the third period after a hit late in the second. He revealed earlier in the day that he considered signing as a free agent with the Maple Leafs last summer. “It was between Florida and Toronto where I was going to go. I never thought it was going to be possible to re-sign with Florida. I really didn’t.“
Maple Leafs visit Philadelphia on Thursday.
Regular Season SeriesTOR leads series 2-0
Scoring Summary
 |
Goal | 1st Period 19:36 | Easton Cowan Goal (5) Snap Shot, assists: Nicholas Robertson (12), Nicolas Roy (12) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 0:42 | Matthew Knies Goal (12) Tip-In, assists: Troy Stecher (6), John Tavares (23) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 4:01 | Auston Matthews Goal (21) Snap Shot, assists: Matthew Knies (26), Matias Maccelli (10) |
 |
Goal | 3rd Period 11:38 | Carter Verhaeghe Goal (12) Snap Shot, assists: none |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 19:52 | Bobby McMann Goal (13) Backhand, assists: Nicolas Roy (13) |
Statistics
 FLA |
 TOR |
|
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Blocked Shots | 18 |
| 31 | Hits | 21 |
| 8 | Takeaways | 2 |
| 32 | Shots | 23 |
| 0 | Power Play Goals | 0 |
| 3 | Power Play Opportunities | 2 |
| 0.0 | Power Play Percentage | 0.0 |
| 0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 28 | Faceoffs Won | 30 |
| 48.3 | Faceoff Win Percent | 51.7 |
| 12 | Giveaways | 14 |
| 3 | Total Penalties | 4 |
| 9 | Penalty Minutes | 11 |
Toronto Maple Leafs Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| John Tavares, C | Injured Reserve | Nov 4 |
| Kirill Marchenko, RW | Injured Reserve | Oct 29 |
| Miles Wood, LW | Injured Reserve | Oct 28 |
| Nick Blankenburg, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 23 |
| Marshall Rifai, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 22 |
Florida Panthers Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Brad Marchand, LW | Injured Reserve | Oct 29 |
| Aleksander Barkov, C | Injured Reserve | Oct 29 |
| Jonah Gadjovich, LW | Injured Reserve | Sep 17 |
