5 Takeaways: Huberdeau, Hawryluk Score Twice in Loss to Maple Leafs

TORONTO - At times tonight, the Great White North felt more like the Wild West.
In a back-and-forth game that featured 12 combined goals, the Toronto Maple Leafs topped the Florida Panthers 7-5 behind a four-goal performance from John Tavares on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.

"We talked about having the need to have inside position and tying up his stick up because he's so good around the net," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said of Tavares, who now ranks second in the NHL with 45 goals. "We didn't do that tonight… He was in position. He got a couple right on his stick in the blue area, and he doesn't miss from there."
After falling behind 4-2 in the first period, the Panthers gathered themselves and looked much better in the second and third frames, playing the Leafs to a 3-3 tie over the final 40 minutes of action. Jonathan Huberdeau and Jayce Hawryluk each potted two goals for Florida, while Mike Matheson chipped in one.
After winning four in a row, the Panthers (33-31-12) have now lost four of their last five games.
"It's embarrassing the way we've played the last three or four games, me included," Panthers defenseman and alternate captain Aaron Ekblad said. "It's unfortunate, and as part of the leadership group, taking full responsibility for it. The best we can do is learn from it and move on."
Florida will wrap up its final back-to-back set of the season tomorrow night in Montreal.
"We obviously haven't lived up to what we expect we're capable of," Hawryluk said. "It's just another tough night and another new day tomorrow. We can't have any quit in here. There are still six games left in the season. We're going to leave it all out there and try and win every game."
Here are five takeaways from Monday's loss in Toronto…

1. A WILD START

This was not the start the Panthers had envisioned.
The wide-open action started just a few minutes into the opening period, when Patrick Marleau and Jake Muzzin each found the back of the net to put Toronto on top 2-0 less than five minutes after the puck had dropped. After the second goal, Roberto Luongo relieved rookie Sam Montembeault in net.
From there, the Panthers and Leafs would go on to trade goals over the next 10 minutes, as Tavares scored twice for Toronto, while Hawryluk and Matheson each lit the lamp for Florida. By the time the dust had settled, the two teams had combined to score six goals within the first 14:19 of the period.
"We come into every game with a game plan, especially against a team like Toronto," Ekblad said. "We know they can score goals. We wanted to limit their chances, and obviously we didn't do a good job of that. The bounces didn't go our way, but that doesn't matter. You've got to make your own bounces.
Still, despite trailing on the scoreboard, the Panthers kept pace in most advance statistics, with Toronto holding onto slim leads in scoring chances (14-12) and high-danger shot attempts (5-4) after 20 minutes.

2. BACK AT IT AGAIN

After teaming up for a goal in their last game, Mike Hoffman and Hawryluk were at it again tonight.
Carrying the puck into the offensive zone with speed, Hoffman showed off his passing prowess, sending a spinning dish to Hawryluk near the crease. Despite having a defender draped on his back, the 23-year-old forward was able to tip the puck in and cut Florida's deficit down to 3-1 at 13:23 of the first period.

"I'm playing with two guys that can find me in areas that, if I get myself to, I'm going to have a pretty good opportunity to score," Hawryluk said. "I've just got to get to those dirty areas, get behind their defense... That's what happened on that play. Hoff made an unbelievable pass."
In the third period, Hawryluk scored again to secure the first three-point night of his career.
Hawryluk, who was named the game's second star, has notched seven goals and five assists in 37 games during his rookie campaign. Among Florida's leaders in hits per game, the former second-round pick was throwing the body as usual against the Leafs, racking up three hits, which were tied for the team-lead.

3. MATTY ICE

Matheson is inching closer to a new career-high point total.
Just over a minute after Tavares put the Leafs up 4-2, Matheson took a pass from Vincent Trocheck and threaded a long wrist shot through traffic from just below the blue line that somehow managed to slip past goaltender Frederik Andersen to cut Florida's deficit back down to 4-2 at 16:25 of the first period.

His eighth goal and 25th point of the season, Matheson is now just two points away from matching the career-best 27 points he posted last season. In addition to his offensive contributions, the 25-year-old defenseman also leads the Panthers in blocked shots (116), while also ranking second in takeaways (57).

4. CHASING HISTORY

Aleksander Barkov and Huberdeau each added to their career-high point totals tonight.
Huberdeau scored twice in the third period against the Leafs. On the first, he batted in a shot attempt from Barkov (chalk up an assist for the captain on that one) to make it 6-3 at 5:34. Then, just over eight minutes later, he wired home his 25th goal of the season goal on the power play to make 7-4 at 13:36.

The first duo on franchise history cross the 80-point plateau in the same season, Barkov leads the team with 88 points (34 goals, 54 assists), while Huberdeau sits just behind him with 84 points (25 goals, 59 assists). Entering tonight's matchup, they ranked first and second in NHL scoring dating back to Feb. 17.
In that 20-game span, Barkov has registered 34 points, while Huberdeau has notched 32.
With Huberdeau already having set the franchise record for most assists in a single season earlier this month, all eyes are now on Barkov, who needs to record just six points over the final six games of the 2018-19 campaign to match Hall of Famer Pavel Bure's franchise record for most points in a season (94).

5. MALGIN RETURNS

After sitting out the last 15 games, Denis Malgin returned to the Panthers lineup tonight.
The 22-year-old forward has been out of action since suffering a lower-body injury in a 6-1 win over Los Angeles on Feb. 23. In 47 games this season, the third-year pro has posted seven goals and eight assists.
In his first game back, Malgin was deployed on a line with Frank Vatrano and Riley Sheahan. In 12:15 of ice time, the former fourth-round pick (102nd overall) tallied an assist and two hits against the Leafs.
Malgin's assist came on Hawryluk's second goal, which made it 7-5 with 2:24 left in the game.