Matthews scores twice for Maple Leafs in win against Panthers

Auston Matthews scored twice for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 6-2 win against the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Thursday.

"I thought we had a good first period, weathered the storm at times when they really got rolling, and [Matt] Murray came up with some big saves, obviously," Matthews said. "We were able to capitalize on some chances there. … I think just a good game all around, especially with how desperate these guys came out, and just to play through the pressure they bring."

Mitchell Marner scored for the fourth straight game, John Tavares had three assists, and Murray made 33 saves for the Maple Leafs (43-19-9), who are 3-1-1 in their past five games and moved five points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for second in the Atlantic Division with two games in hand. The Lightning lost 7-2 at the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
"I thought [Murray] looked great," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "Our guys did a really good job in front of him. That's a very dynamic offensive team that we played against and really limited their opportunities. When they did break free and looked dangerous, he made it look easy. I really liked that."
Matthew Tkachuk extended his goal streak to an NHL career-high six games, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for the Panthers (36-29-7), who remain one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Penguins lost 3-2 at the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
Florida has lost two in a row after a seven-game point streak (6-0-1).
"We just have to get a win [Saturday at the New York Rangers]," Tkachuk said. "We have to do everything it takes. Hopefully we'll get some help before that, but it's definitely not the end of the world. We're right in the race right now."

William Nylander put Toronto up 2-1 at 1:20 of the second period when he got to a loose puck at the top of the crease and shot past Bobrovsky's glove. It was his 80th point of the season and ended a four-game goal and point drought.
"It's obviously nice to score, I thought my game has been getting better as of the past two games, so it's just moving in the right direction," Nylander said.
Matthews made it 3-1 at 2:57 when he took a pass from Mark Giordano while behind the net, skated out in front and shot past Bobrovsky's glove while Calle Jarnkrok provided a screen.
"It was just a great screen, honestly," Matthews said. "It was a bit of a muffin I threw at the net, but the goalie didn't see it and I was just able to pick a spot and get it there. It was just an unbelievable screen by him, those are just the little things he does night in, night out that maybe sometimes go unnoticed."

Nick Cousins cut it to 3-2 at 11:43 when he took a pass from Aleksander Barkov in the slot and backhanded a shot over Murray's blocker in the slot.
Michael Bunting gave the Maple Leafs a 4-2 lead at 18:21 when he shot from the slot on a 5-on-3 man-advantage, the first such power play they've had this season.
"It's been a long wait, a long wait for one, that's for sure," Keefe said. "We're glad to get it. It didn't go in the way we drew it up but it's nice for the guys to come through. It was an important time in the game."
Alex Kerfoot made it 5-2 at 14:23 of the third period when Tavares centered a pass into the slot and Kerfoot shot between Bobrovsky's pads. It was his first goal since Jan. 17, ending a 25-game goal drought.
Marner scored short-handed into an empty net at 15:49 for the 6-2 final.
"The hardest part of it was we got into some penalty trouble and we had basically all the momentum," Tkachuk said. "[Defensive] zone, we didn't do a great job of shutting plays down, we kind of let them run all over the place and create their offense. They were moving around a lot, and we didn't do a good enough job of getting in front of Murray, he basically saw everything tonight. Just a tough one at a tough time of year.
"[The Maple Leafs] got crushed the other night by the [New York] Islanders (7-2 loss on Tuesday), they wanted to turn the page, and they turned it, and we didn't [after a 6-3 loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday]."

The Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead at 5:05 of the first period when Matthews took a pass from Marner and shot from above the left face-off circle.
Tkachuk tied it 1-1 at 14:25 on a power play. His initial shot from behind the goal line was stopped by Murray, but Tkachuk swatted at the rebound through the legs of Jake McCabe along the goal line. Murray stopped the shot sprawling with his glove, but video review determined the puck had crossed the goal line.
NOTES:Matthews has six goals in the past eight games. … Marner extended his point streak to eight games (six goals, nine assists). … Nylander (36 goals, 44 assists) has reached 80 points for the second straight season. … Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly (rest) did not play. … Barkov has a nine-game point streak (two goals, 12 assists) and has 10 assists in a seven-game assist streak. … Tkachuk, playing his 500th NHL game, extended his point streak to seven games (seven goals, nine assists). His goal streak is one shy of the Panthers record set by Pavel Bure in 2000-01. … Barkov played his 654th game to tie Stephen Weiss for second in Panthers history behind Jonathan Huberdeau (671). … Florida forward Carter Verhaeghe had an assist and has four goals and six assists in a seven-game point streak.