Reaves scores twice, Rangers rally past Maple Leafs

NEW YORK -- Ryan Reaves scored his first two goals of the season, and the New York Rangers rallied with five straight goals for a 6-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

It was Reaves' second two-goal game in the NHL. He also did it with the St. Louis Blues on April 25, 2013.
"You never want to go three months without scoring," Reaves said after playing his 33rd game for New York. "I tend to do that a lot in my career. Feels good to get them out of the way, especially in this barn. Hopefully they keep coming now."
Adam Fox had two goals and an assist, and Ryan Strome had a goal and an assist for the Rangers (26-10-4), who have won three in a row and are first in the Metropolitan Division. Igor Shesterkin made 35 saves, including 17 in the third period.
"I think we're proving to the league, we're proving to ourselves, that we're a contender," Reaves said. "The standings don't lie."
Mitchell Marner had a goal and an assist for the second straight game, and Jack Campbell made 21 saves for the Maple Leafs (24-10-3), who have blown a multigoal lead in four of their past five games (2-2-1).

Auston Matthews had his streak of 10 straight road games with a goal ended, one short of the NHL record.
"Today, I just thought we played soft and we made poor decisions defensively," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "We couldn't sort anything out. It was just far different. Each game has been different, so it's hard to talk about patterns other than the obvious that we've been giving up leads. I just thought we got exposed today for being a team that was just soft, soft and purposeless and just kind of playing the game and hoping it was going to work out.
"I didn't think we had anybody that played well tonight. Coaches didn't coach well tonight. So today is a much different game than we've played in the others where we've given up leads and such. I just didn't think we had nearly enough urgency or purpose."
Strome gave New York a 4-3 lead at 10:50 of the third period, and Chris Kreider made it 5-3 at 15:33 off the rebound of Jacob Trouba's shot.
Matthews appeared to score at 16:08 but a video review determined he kicked the puck into the net.
Fox shot into an empty net at 17:36 for the 6-3 final.
"The goals were pretty simple goals, great turnovers, great plays and getting to the net," Strome said. "We've sat up here all year and we've preached that it's the simple things for our team, and it showed again tonight. They're a great hockey team, and I liked our response from our team in the last 40."
Ilya Mikheyev scored from the slot at 2:44 of the first period to give Toronto a 1-0 lead. Marner made it 2-0 at 3:30 when he scored a power-play goal for the first time since Feb. 1, 2020 (101 games).
Reaves cut it to 2-1 at 12:52 before Michael Bunting pushed the lead to 3-1 at 17:50.
"I was a little worried to be honest with you," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "We came out a little sleepy."

Reaves scored his second goal at 2:58 of the second period to cut it to 3-2.
Strome credited Reaves and linemates Kevin Rooney and Greg McKegg for sparking the Rangers after a difficult first period.
"Even without the goals, I think the whole game they were the only line that was able to get in there and forecheck and create turnovers and have sustained zone time," Strome said. "We fed off that. They provided energy the whole night."
Fox tied it 3-3 at 17:49 when Strome passed to him cutting through the right circle for a one-timer through Campbell's legs.
"We took our foot off the gas, and it's becoming something we really need to stop doing and fix," Marner said. "This isn't something we were doing at the start of the year."
Shesterkin kept the game tied when he made a glove save on a breakaway by William Nylander at 2:11 of the third period. He saved the final 27 shots he faced after giving up three goals on 11 shots in the first.
"It shows our maturity," Reaves said of the comeback. "It shows that we can hang with the big boys, that we are one of the big boys."
NOTES: Matthews failed to tie the record 11-game road goal streak held by Pavel Bure (1993-94 with the Vancouver Canucks) and Steve Yzerman (1988-89 with the Detroit Red Wings). … Since Marner last scored a power-play goal, 426 NHL players scored at least one, led by Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl (34). Among the Maple Leafs, 15 players scored at least one, including 22 by Matthews. Marner had 28 power-play assists in that span. … New York is 11-2-0 against the Atlantic Division and 17-3-0 against the Eastern Conference. … Kreider's goal was his 25th of the season, which tied Matthews for third in the NHL, behind Draisaitl (26) and Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (27). … Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad had two assists to extend his point streak to six games (three goals, four assists).