Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 2
PANTHERS 5, MAPLE LEAFS 2: Jason Garrison recorded a goal and an assist as host Florida remained on top of the Southeast Division and third in the Eastern Conference.
The Panthers remain one point ahead of the Washington Capitals, who defeated the New York Islanders 5-4 in a shootout Tuesday.
Sean Bergenheim batted in a trickling puck in front of the Leafs goal to
open the scoring just under a minute into the first period and added an
empty-netter to set a career high with 16 goals.
Garrison redirected a shot from Marcel Goc past James Reimer to put the Panthers ahead 2-0 at 14:43 in the second period. He set up a similar goal on the power play, firing a point shot that was tipped by Tomas Kopecky to make the score 3-1 six minutes into the final frame.
Toronto has lost all four meetings with Florida this season, allowing five goals in each of those games.
Tyler Bozak crashed the net and knocked home a rebound to snap Toronto’s scoreless skid at 196 minutes, 26 seconds with just under a minute left in the second period.
Florida scored its second power-play goal when Goc picked up a turnover and beat Reimer glove side to go ahead 4-1 with a little over 10 minutes remaining.
Mikhail Grabovski banged in a rebound for the Leafs at 13:50 of the third period.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Florida has scored first in all four games with Toronto this season. … Toronto is 3-8 in its last 11 encounters with Florida.