Panthers pound Leafs, end five-game skid
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals and Thomas Vanek added a career-high four assists as the Florida Panthers broke a five-game losing streak, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-2 on Tuesday night at the BB&T Center.
Florida posted its largest margin of victory of the season.
The Panthers also got goals from Aleksander Barkov, Colton Sceviour (short-handed), Reilly Smith, Jussi Jokinen (power play) and Keith Yandle.
It was the most goals for Florida since a 7-4 overtime victory at Nashville on Feb. 11, a game that started a five-game Panthers win streak.
Florida (30-27-11) started Tuesday seven points behind the Leafs for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. But complicating things for the Panthers is the fact that they also trail two other teams in the race, and Florida only has 14 games remaining.
The loss was damaging for Toronto (31-23-14), which fell a point behind both the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Florida goalie James Reimer, who is the main man with starter Roberto Luongo out at least another week due to a hip injury, snapped a seven-game winless skid (0-6-1). Reimer made 28 saves.
Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen was pulled after a first period in which he allowed three goals on eight shots. Curtis McElhinney finished up for the Leafs, allowing four goals on 24 shots.
The Panthers led 3-1 after the first period as Barkov scored the first goal at 18 seconds, redirecting a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau off the left post and into the net.
The Panthers made it 2-0 on a short-handed goal. Derek MacKenzie's pass from his own end sent Sceviour off to the races, and he beat Andersen glove side after outskating the flat-footed Leafs.
After a holding penalty on Jaromir Jagr, Toronto cashed in with a power-play goal by Leo Komarov, who beat Reimer high to the glove side. The assist went to William Nylander, who provided a nice set-up pass.
Marchessault made it 3-1 with 5:39 left in the first period, chasing Andersen. But Marchessault kept it going for Florida, scoring again with 4:38 elapsed in the second. Smith rebounded his own shot to give Florida a 5-1 lead.
The teams traded goals in the final two minutes of the second period -- Nikita Soshnikov for Toronto and Jokinen for Florida -- putting the Panthers up 6-2.
NOTES: Panthers D Aaron Ekblad and C Denis Malgin missed their first games since sustaining concussions Saturday in a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. This is the third head-related injury in the past 14 months for the 21-year-old Ekblad, named the NHL Rookie of the Year in 2015. ... D Jakub Kindl, who has only played 29 games this season, replaced Ekblad. ... Florida recalled rookie D MacKenzie Weegar, 23, who was a healthy scratch along with C Michael Sgarbossa. ... Toronto scratched RW Ben Smith, C Eric Fehr, LW Josh Leivo and D Alexey Marchenko. ... Toronto has missed the playoffs 10 times in the past 11 years, including the past three seasons consecutively. ... The Leafs' average age is 26.0 -- far less than the league average of 27.9 or the Panthers' average of 28.6.