Maple Leafs Drop On Panthers

     The Toronto Maple Leafs knocked off the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena. The Panthers begin a six-game road swing and will play nine of their next 10 contests on the road. 

     The Cats started their second half of the regular season. The Maple Leafs extended their home winning streak to six games. 

     Toronto(20-15-7) broke out to a 1-0 advantage with 24 seconds remaining in the first period. Nicolas Roy sent a diagonal pass from above the top right circle. Nicholas Robertson centered from below the low left circle and Easton Cowan put in a wrist shot from the right of the crease past Sergei Bobrovsky for his fifth tally of the year. 

     The Maple Leafs expanded their lead to 2-0 just 42 seconds into the second period. John Tavares pushed the puck from the right goal line and Troy Stetcher one-timed a slap shot from above the top right circle. It was redirected it by Matthew Knies from the top of the crease for his 12th goal of the campaign. 

     It became 3-0 for the Leafs at 4:01 of the second. Knies carried the puck from the left wing through the left circle and the low slot. He made a drop pass and Auston Matthews snapped a shot from the low slot for his 21st goal of the season. 

     In the third period, Florida(22-17-3) got on the scoreboard with 8:22 to go. Carter Verhaeghe shot the puck from the end wall and it banked off Joseph Woll into the cage for his 12th goal this season. It was Verhaeghe's 150th goal in a Panthers uniform. 

     The Panthers pulled their goalie for an extra attacker with over three minutes remaining. Bobby McMann would steer the puck into an empty net from the slot area for his 13th goal this year with 7.3 seconds left to give Toronto a 4-1 lead.