Auston Matthews scored in his third consecutive game, and Joseph Woll stood tall backstopping the Leafs to a 4-1 victory Tuesday Night over the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena.
In a battle for a much-needed win, with both teams showing a high level of urgency, the Maple Leafs benefited from an opportunistic offence and a stellar goaltending performance from Woll to secure the crucial two points.
Easton Cowan put Toronto out in front in the waning moments of the first period. The rookie forward scored his 5th of the season off a series of great passes culminating with a Nicholas Robertson feed across the front door of Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky that Cowan slid home.
The Maple Leafs extended their lead with a pair of goals in the second period. Matthew Knies deflected a shot past Bobrovsky at the 42-second mark to make it 2-1. Then at 4:21, Matthews scored his 21st of the season and seventh in his last 11 games, snapping one by Bobrovsky from the slot after Matthew Knies made a power move to the net, serving the puck up for the captain.
Florida fired an onslaught of shots at Woll in the third, but the only one that made it through was Carter Verhaeghe’s bad-angle heave 11:38 into the period. The Leafs’ net minder finished the game with 30 saves.
Bobby McMann added an empty netter for good measure, making the final 4-1
Next up, Toronto travels to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers Thursday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
