Auston Matthews scored two goals and the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Florida Panthers 6-2 Thursday night.
William Nylander and Mitchell Marner each had a goal and an assist for Toronto (43-19-9, 95 points). Michael Bunting and Alexander Kerfoot also scored, while John Tavares had three assists and Mark Giordano added two assists.
Matt Murray stopped 33 shots for the Maple Leafs, who are 2-1-0 three games into a five-game trip.
Matthew Tkachuk and Nick Cousins scored for the Panthers (36-29-7, 79 points), who have lost two in a row. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for the Panthers.
Matthews scored at 5:05 of the first period on a 41-foot wrist shot after Marner’s pass.
Tkachuk scored his 35th goal at 14:25 of the first on a backhand from a sharp angle during a power play. A video review determined that the puck crossed the goal line before Murray was able to bring it back with his glove. Tavares was serving a hooking penalty.
The Maple Leafs scored twice early in the second period.
Nylander netted his 36th goal of the season at 1:20, knocking in the puck after Tavares had his attempt slide across the crease.
Matthews scored his 34th of the season at 2:57 on a 19-foot wrist shot after he carried the puck from behind the net to the right circle.
Cousins converted his seventh of the season at 11:43 of the second on a second-effort backhand from the slot, pulling Florida within 3-2.
Bunting scored his 21st goal of the season at 18:21 of the second with Toronto on a five-on-three power play. Aaron Ekblad (hooking) and Gustav Forsling (tripping) were off.
Kerfoot scored his eighth of the season at 14:23 of the third period.
Marner’s 28th of the season at 15:49 of the third was a short-handed effort into an empty net with Bobrovsky removed for an extra attacker.
Florida forward Sam Bennett (lower-body injury) did not play.
Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly was rested and did not play.
–Field Level Media
