Tavares has 3 points, Maple Leafs defeat Rangers for 3rd straight win

NEW YORK -- John Tavares had three points to reach 1,100 for his NHL career and the Toronto Maple Leafs won 4-3 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

Tavares scored two goals and had an assist to become the eighth active player with 1,100 points (485 goals, 615 assists). He is also one of 13 players selected first in the NHL draft, including five active, to reach 1,100 points.

"You don't take it for granted," Tavares said. "It's been a great journey, a lot of hard work and obviously I've played with two great organizations and a lot of great teammates that have been a big part of that helping me along the way and making me look good a lot of the time. I'm very proud of the commitment I try to make and the passion I have for the game. I try to go out there and execute, play well and be effective and also be counted on offensively."

Jake McCabe had three assists, William Nylander had two, Bobby McMann had a goal and an assist, and Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves for the Maple Leafs (42-24-3), who have won three games in a row after losing four of their previous five in regulation.

Toronto is tied for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Florida Panthers, both with 87 points in 69 games. The Panthers hold the regulation wins tiebreaker (35-34).

"Momentum is a nice thing to have in this League, and confidence," McCabe said. "A couple weeks ago we didn't have that momentum, we didn't have that confidence. We knew that tough stretch was going to make us better. Look ourselves in the mirror a little bit and ask for more from each and every one of us and I think we've done that and responded well."

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, and Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves for the Rangers (33-31-6). They have lost three in a row, all at home, and are two points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

"Try not to be (frustrated) because we have a game at 1 (on Saturday), so we don't have much time for crying," Panarin said. "We just have to stay together, keep trying to win games."

Tavares gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 12:30 of the first period, scoring off the rush with a one-timer from the top of the left face-off circle that was set up by McCabe. Nylander started the play and picked up his 600th NHL point (255 goals, 345 assists).

"I liked our start," Toronto coach Craig Berube said. "I thought we came out of the gates really good, on our toes. We played last night too so sometimes you wonder how we're going to come out, but we were working right away and doing the right things and took hold of the game in my opinion."

Will Borgen made it 1-1 at 19:12 of the first with a shot from the top of the right circle that got through Stolarz with Sam Carrick and Chris Kreider both in front of the net.

McMann, who moved up to play with Tavares and Nylander to give that line more speed, scored on a deflection of McCabe's shot at 19:50 to give Toronto a 2-1 lead going into the first intermission. Tavares had the secondary assist.

"Those are huge, especially when you can respond and get those back right away," McMann said. "Those are huge, especially on the road too. This crowd is always pretty lively too so that was a nice one."

Panarin tied it 2-2 at 1:22 of the second period. He scored from the bottom of the left circle off a rebound of Vincent Trocheck's shot. Adam Fox had an assist, the 300th of his NHL career.

But Tavares gave Toronto the lead again, 3-2, scoring at 4:16 from the right circle off a rebound of McCabe's shot. It was his 1,100th point.

"It's incredible," Nylander said. "I mean, what an accomplishment. A great game tonight."

Matthew Knies made it 4-2 at 14:26. K'Andre Miller and Fox couldn't connect on a short, uncontested pass in the defensive zone. Nylander got the puck, went behind the net and found Knies coming off the bench. He scored from between the circles.

"Mistakes like that just can't happen, especially with where we're at," Fox said.

Kreider scored on a deflection of Panarin's shot to make it 4-3 at 19:25 of the third period, but the Rangers could not get the equalizer.

"I thought we were just consistent all night," McCabe said. "We got pucks behind, worked them in their own zone, made smart decisions, won our battles. I thought it was an overall steady, steady 60 minutes."

NOTES: Nylander is the ninth player in Maple Leafs history to have 600 points with the team. … Fox is the fourth defenseman in Rangers history to have 300 assists, joining Brian Leetch (741), Ron Greschner (431) and James Patrick (363).