In a thrilling game that went down to the wire, the Toronto Maple Leafs managed to edge out the Florida Panthers with a narrow 4-3 win on Tuesday night.
The Leafs got off to a quick start, with William Nylander opening the scoring just 1:28 into the game. But the Panthers responded with goals from Frank Vatrano and Patric Hornqvist to take a 2-1 lead.
The two teams then traded goals in the second period, with Zach Hyman tying the game for the Leafs and Aleksander Barkov restoring the Panthers’ lead.
In the third period, the Leafs came out firing and tied the game once again with a goal from John Tavares. With less than two minutes remaining, Mitch Marner scored the game-winning goal on the power play, giving the Leafs their fourth win of the season.
The game was a back-and-forth battle in terms of the box score, with the Panthers leading in shots on goal (35-28) and hits (22-16), while the Leafs had the edge in faceoffs won (51%-49%) and blocked shots (21-12).
Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen played a key role in the victory, making 32 saves and keeping his team in the game in the face of some intense pressure from the Panthers.
The win improved the Maple Leafs’ record to 4-2-0 on the season, while the Panthers dropped to 2-1-1. The two teams will face off again on Thursday night in Toronto, with the Leafs looking to build on their momentum and secure another two points in the standings.
