Auston Matthews scored his NHL-primary 61st and 62nd aims of the time to go together with an guide as the Toronto Maple Leafs designed a four-purpose lead ahead of hanging on late to down the Florida Panthers 6-4 in a possible to start with-round playoff preview Monday.
Nicholas Robertson and Matthew Knies also had a target and an support each individual for Toronto, whilst Tyler Bertuzzi and David Kampf provided the relaxation of the offense.
Ilya Samsonov built 26 will save for the Leafs, who had been with out five regulars — which includes star winger Mitch Marner (higher ankle sprain) for an 11th straight video game.
Vladimir Tarasenko experienced a objective and two assists for Florida. Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and Brandon Montour also scored. Sergei Bobrovsky allowed 5 targets on 16 photographs by means of two intervals before acquiring the hook. Anthony Stolarz produced six saves in aid.
The Leafs, who sit 3rd in the Atlantic Division and would have performed Florida if the playoffs started Monday, had a probability to clinch a put up-period berth for an eighth consecutive year, but final results in other places didn’t go their way.
The Panthers, in the meantime, could have overtaken the Boston Bruins for very first in the Atlantic with a victory.
Toronto, which fell to Florida in an emphatic 5 game titles in the next spherical of last spring’s write-up-period on the Panthers’ march to the Stanley Cup closing, opened the scoring at 13:59 of the initially period when Robertson scored on a breakaway following a turnover at the Leafs’ blue line.
Matthews, who became just the ninth different participant in NHL background to two times strike 60 aims in a season Saturday, doubled the guide 33 seconds later when TJ Brodie circled Florida’s web and identified the sniper in entrance for his 61st.
Florida bought on the board 47 seconds into the next when Montour’s effort and hard work as a result of a display screen defeat Samsonov for his seventh, but Bertuzzi took a pass from Matthews at the lip of Bobrovsky’s crease 39 seconds later to bag his 19th.
Samsonov then made a enormous stop on Anton Lundell that had the Scotiabank Arena group on its ft.
Kampf scored his seventh for a 4-1 gain at 8:32 just after Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves won a puck fight behind Florida’s web.
Knies, who fed Robertson’s breakaway pass on Toronto’s opener, extra his 13th off a Pontus Holmberg set up for a 5-1 direct via 40 minutes.
Tarasenko acquired just one back again at 2:12 of the 3rd when he tipped 22nd — and fifth considering that staying obtained from the Ottawa Senators forward of very last month’s trade deadline — on a pleasant deflection from the slot.
Reinhart designed it 5-3 with 8:02 left in regulation with his 52nd as the Panthers ongoing to push just before Bennett obtained Florida in just a single with 1:50 remaining with his ninth.
But Matthews scored his 62nd into an vacant web to seal it immediately after some nervy times.
UP Next
Panthers: Go to Montreal on Tuesday.
Maple Leafs: Host Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
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AP NHL:
