Brad Marchand scored two goals Thursday night as the Florida Panthers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 at Sunrise, Fla.
Evan Rodrigues added a goal and an assist for the Panthers, who were playing their first game after the Olympic break. Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk also scored. Anton Lundell added two assists and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots for Florida, which was on a 1-5-0 run ahead of the break.
John Tavares scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost their first two games after the break. Joseph Woll made 32 saves.
The Panthers took a 3-0 lead in the first period in a matchup of teams trying to get into playoff contention. Marchand scored from the edge of the crease at 3:18 after Lundell sent the puck toward the net. A turnover by Toronto’s Matthew Knies started the sequence.
A funky bounce on Toronto defenseman Troy Stecher’s clearing attempt from behind the net helped Verhaeghe score a power-play goal from 20 feet at 5:13. Nicolas Roy was off for tripping.
Rodrigues scored his first career short-handed goal on a breakaway at 16:40 after stripping the puck from William Nylander in the neutral zone.
Toronto played with more energy in the goalless second period. Bobrovsky made two big saves in the final two minutes of the period, first on Nylander’s break-in and then on Simon Benoit.
Tavares scored a power-play goal from the edge of the crease at 47 seconds of the third period. Auston Matthews earned his 350th career assist with a pass that deflected off the skate of Florida’s Gustav Forsling. Aaron Ekblad was serving a roughing penalty.
The Panthers had a goal called back at 9:02 of the third after a video review determined that the play was offside.
Toronto withstood a Florida power play midway through the third with Woll contributing a key save.
Marchand hit the post with Woll removed for an extra attacker but then made no mistake on his next attempt at 16:51.
Tkachuk added another empty-net goal at 18:08.
It was Florida’s first win this season against Toronto. The Maple Leafs had won the two previous games and the teams will play once more, on April 11 in Toronto.
–Field Level Media
