Maple Leafs Take Panthers

     The Florida Panthers returned home folllowing a five-game road trip and fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 at BB&T Center in a crucial four-point game between both teams. It was the first contest of a five-game home stand for Florida.
     The Maple Leafs extended their margin over the Panthers by four points for third place in the Atlantic Division. Erik Haula, who played in his 400th NHL game, and Linus Ullmark made their home debuts with the Cats. Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville was behind the bench for his 1,700 NHL game.
     Florida(33-24-6) jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 2:23 mark. Keith Yandle fired a shot which was blocked in the crease. Aaron Ekblad got the rebound in front, fed a pass to the right circle and Mark Pysyk snapped a shot past Frederik Andersen.
     Toronto(34-23-8) quickly answered back at 3:32. Justin Holl forwarded it from the right point. Auston Matthews backhanded a centering pass from the low right circle and Zach Hyman poked in the puck from the top of the crease by Sergei Bobrovsky for his 20th goal of the season.
     The Panthers regained the lead 7:25 into the first period. Haula pushed the puck at the red line to Frank Vatrano. He skated into the Toronto zone on the right side and took a snap shot from the right circle. It was saved by Andersen, however Mike Hoffman put in the rebound with a forehand shot from the low slot for his 26th goal.
     It became 3-1 for the Cats with 7:24 left in the frame. Yandle advanced the puck on the right side and Noel Acciari released a wrist shot from the right circle for his 20th goal of the campaign.
     The Maple Leafs cut the deficit to 3-2 with 2:17 remaining in the first. Alexander Kerfoot backed the puck out from the goal line to Jason Spezza in the right circle. He sent a cross-ice pass and Kasperi Kapanen scored on a slap shot from the left circle.
     The Leafs tied the contest up 3-3 with 1:02 to go. Mitch Marner touched the puck in the low slot ahead to Hyman at the top of the crease. He slid a square pass to his right and Matthews found the net from the right edge of the crease for his 44th goal of the season.
     There was no scoring in the second. Toronto got the lead at the 9:00 mark of the third period. Martin Marancin had a slap shot from the right point that was deflected by Kyle Clifford in the low slot. It bounced out to William Nylander in the low right circle and he scored 29th goal of the season on a snap shot.
     Holl added an open-net goal with 20.8 seconds remaining in the contest to make it 5-3. John Tavares was credited with the only assist on the play.