Toronto Maple Leafs save face beat Florida Panthers 3-2

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Toronto Maple Leafs save face by winning in shootout vs Florida Panthers 3-2. Here is the game summary and highlights.

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

Auston Matthews opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs with his 17^th goal of the season at 10:38 of the first period and later registered an assist on William Nylander’s second period goal. Matthews has points in four consecutive games (3-2-5) and has 15 points (11 goals, 4 assists) in his last 15 games. Tonight’s game is the sixth multi-point game of the season for Matthews.

William Nylander gave the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead in the second period with a power play goal. Nylander has goals in consecutive games and has registered points (2-1-3) in three straight games.

Connor Brown registered his seventh assist in the first period to extend his point streak to three games (2-2-4).

Zach Hyman earned a takeaway prior to Matthews’ first period goal and was credited with a secondary assist on the play. Hyman has registered an assist in three of his last four games.

Jake Gardiner picked up an assist in the second period on Nylander’s power play goal. He has assists (4) in four consecutive games.

Frederik Andersen stopped 45 Panthers shots in tonight’s game, including a Dennis Malgin penalty shot attempt at 13:06 of the third period. The Maple Leafs are 3-1-1 this season when Andersen makes 40 or more saves in a game.

IN THE SHOOTOUT

Auston Matthews – Missed (2016-17: 1/5)

Nazem Kadri – Missed (2016-17: 0/1)

Mitch Marner – Goal (2016-17: 2/6)

Frederik Andersen – 3/3 (2016-17: 9/14)

SHOTS FIRED

The Maple Leafs were outshot by the Panthers by a 47-40 margin in all situations and 36-29 at 5-on-5.

Mitch Marner led the Maple Leafs with nine shots on goal, which is a single-game high for a Toronto skater this season.

Mitch Marner also registered a team-high 10 shot attempts.

ROAD SCHOLARS

The Maple Leafs are 6-6-5 on the road this season and 5-2-1 in the first leg of back-to-backs.

Toronto’s all-time record is 38-31-7-2 in 78 games against the Panthers and 18-16-5-1 in 40 games played in Florida.

Toronto is 9-6-2 against the Eastern Conference this season and 6-3-1 against the Atlantic Division.

The Maple Leafs wrap up the back-to-back tomorrow night (Dec. 29) against the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7:30 p.m. in Tampa.

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

OF NOTE…

Tonight’s game is the first shootout win of the season for the Maple Leafs.

At 16:55 of the second period in tonight’s game, Florida requested a Coach’s Challenge to review whether Nazem Kadri interfered with Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo prior to James van Riemsdyk‘s goal. The Referee determined that the goal should have been disallowed due to ‘Interference on the Goalkeeper’ and the original call was overturned – no goal Toronto.

Frederik Andersen has faced and stopped two penalty shots this season.

The Maple Leafs have successfully killed off 14 consecutive penalties over their last three games.

The Maple Leafs have scored at least one goal in 10 of their last 11 regulation periods.

Toronto has outscored opponents 5-0 in the first period during their current three-game winning streak.

The Maple Leafs have scored 35 first period goals this season, which is the most in the NHL.

The Maple Leafs have not allowed a first period goal in four consecutive games and have surrendered just one first period goal in their last seven contests.

Toronto has scored the first goal in their last four games and in six of their last seven games. The Maple Leafs are 13-4-5 when scoring first this season.

The Maple Leafs are now 10-1-4 when leading after one period and 13-1-5 when leading after two periods.

Toronto has a 10-4-2 record when outshot by their opponents.

Maple Leafs rookies combined for five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in tonight’s game. Toronto’s rookies had combined for 117 points (45 goals, 72 assists) in the Maple Leafs’ previous 33 games.

UPCOMING GAMES:

Thursday, Dec. 29 at Tampa Bay Lightning, 7:30 p.m. (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)

Sunday, Jan. 1 vs. Detroit Red Wings, 3:00 p.m. (Sportsnet, FAN 590)*

Tuesday, Jan. 3 at Washington Capitals, 7:00 p.m. (TSN 4, TSN 1050)

Friday, Jan. 6 at New Jersey Devils, 7:30 p.m. (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)

Saturday, Jan. 7 vs. Montreal Canadiens, 7:00 p.m. (Hockey Night in Canada, FAN 590)

*2017 NHL Centennial Classic™

POSTGAME QUOTES:

HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK

On tonight’s game:

A big win for us – especially with the amount of times we were in the penalty box. Discipline on our part has to be better, I don’t know what was going on out there. A big win for us. [Andersen] in net, Marner could have scored six on the night and eventually he got it. Good for him and good for our team.

On the message during the third period timeout:

Let’s get playing, stop watching them. You’ve seen us go through this a couple of times here now, whether it’s giving up the late goal in the second or turning the puck over at the wrong time. You can’t watch the other team play, you’ve got to play yourself. You just try to settle down and get playing. There were lots of chances both ways tonight. They play run-and-gun, they play wide open, so you’re going to get your chances. You’ve just got to be patient and they’ll give them to you.

On the team calming down as a sign of maturity:

I don’t know how much they calmed down to be honest with you, but we found a way to win the game, which I think is important. The other thing is suddenly we’ve won three in a row on the road and that hasn’t happened. Andy playing in all three of those games played real well in all of them, which is positive for us. [Bibeau] gets the chance to start for us tomorrow against a good Tampa team so we’ve got to bounce back and get ready to play.

MITCH MARNER (SHOOTOUT WINNER, 9 SHOTS)

On winning the game in the shootout:

Obviously it feels nice to get one out there. My linemates were really finding me tonight and I’m just trying to become more of a shooter than a passer and be a double-threat. Obviously it was good to get shots on net but hopefully next time one can go in earlier.

On if it was hard not to get frustrated after not scoring despite chances:

I guess so, but in the third [Bozak] and [van Riemsdyk] were kind of joking around the whole time and giving it to me so it’s good fun and just trying to stay loose.

On his shootout approach:

I kind of knew what I wanted to do on that one but it’s kind of hard to stick to that move when you get going down and see what you have. I wanted that move from the start and luckily it went in.

On how he beat Luongo in the shootout:

I don’t know, I just tried to get it over that stick of his and, like I said, he got a piece of it and luckily it had enough juice to get through.

AUSTON MATTHEWS (1 GOAL, 20:19 TOI)

On the team earning a victory after a slow start to the third period:

It’s kind of the same process. We let the game kind of get away from us a little bit in the third. We knew coming out they were going to come out flying there down 2-0 in their house. It’s something we’ve got to be ready for, there’s no exception. We battled back, we hung in there after two quick goals and were able to control the game a little more – getting it in deep, keeping it simple and pulling it out in the shootout. It’s a good two points for us no matter what.

On the timeout after two goals against in the third:

Everybody on the bench and on the ice just needs to relax and get back to what we were doing in the first two periods that got us that 2-0 lead. This was an important game for us. We’re on a bit of a roll right now and we want to continue that. We’re going to play a really good team tomorrow in Tampa Bay and it’ll be another good challenge for us.

On the play leading to his goal:

That’s all Hyman right there on the forecheck. He was able to steal the puck, he threw it out front, Brown got it turned around and it just hit me, it was laying there. I think a really positive thing about our line is we’re able to score in different ways, whether it’s on the rush or down low on the cycle. It was a really good line effort there.

On the power play’s recent success:

I think we’re just moving the puck more, finding each other through that seam. We’re able to get shots and our guy in front of the net is doing a much better job screening the goalie. The last four or five teams we’ve played the goalies are outstanding – so is every goalie in the League – but especially these last couple we’ve played, they’re big, they move well, they see everything. You need to get bodies in front of them to take their eyes away so you’re able to sneak some past them.

WILLIAM NYLANDER (1 GOAL, 17:40 TOI)

On his power play goal:

It was a great pass right through the seam, I just had to get it up.

On the resilience to win in a shootout:

It was big for us, I think. We had a couple earlier where we wanted to win in the shootout so it’s nice to get the shootout win for sure.

On winning four straight on the road:

It’s something we’ve been working on. We weren’t really strong on the road at the beginning of the season. I think we’re getting better and better.

On the play of Frederik Andersen:

He’s been amazing. He’s been a house back there and he’s keeping us in some of the games too, for sure.

MORGAN RIELLY (25:01 TOI; 3 BLOCKED SHOTS)

On the team earning a win after giving up a third period lead:

When we came out in the third and we gave up two quick ones, that’s not the way we drew it up. I think the guys did a good job of digging in and holding on to that tie and taking it to overtime and winning the shootout. It’s a cliché but you love them when you win them. Tonight we’re pretty happy with it.

On what was said during a third period timeout:

I think you could probably guess. It was basically – we had to find our legs and get playing again. You come out flat for the third period, there’s no excuse for that. Like I said, we’re happy with the way we dug in and we hung on.

On the team winning four straight road games:

I think it’s a sign we’re getting used to it and we’re getting more comfortable on the road. It’s all part of maturing but the big thing is we’ve got to keep doing it. We can’t be too satisfied. We’ve got to go into Tampa tomorrow night and win and keep it rolling.

On the play of Mitch Marner:

He looked great, he had lots of chances. You could kind of tell he was getting frustrated they weren’t going in so for him to get the winner in the shootout was great for him. He played outstanding. It’s a good sign for the team to get a win and go to Tampa.