Maple Leafs closer to clinching after defeating Panthers

TORONTO-- The Toronto Maple Leafs are on the verge of a Stanley Cup Playoff berth after a 4-3 win against the Florida Panthers at Air Canada Centre on Wednesday.

WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Maple Leafs highlights]
Toronto (46-23-7) would have qualified for the playoffs if the Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Colorado Avalanche in regulation, but the Flyers won 2-1.
"We just wanted to handle our own business here with this game, and that was a desperate team who came out playing well, and we knew they were going to be a challenge for us the whole game," Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk said. "Obviously it was, but we found a way to win."
Van Riemsdyk scored his 200th NHL goal and Frederik Andersen made 30 saves for the Maple Leafs, who set Toronto records with their 46th win and 27th home win of the season (27-9-2).

"It's pretty huge when you look at how long this team has been around, and that's a credit to the hard work the guys have put in (so far), but there's a lot more hard work to go," Maple Leafs forward Patrick Marleau said.
Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice and Roberto Luongo made 31 saves for the Panthers (39-29-7), who remained three points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference with one game in hand.

"This one hurts, but we have to regroup here and come back tomorrow night (against the Ottawa Senators)," Luongo said. "We didn't have any urgency in the first, and with a team like that on the other side, if we're not playing on top of our game, they're going to make you pay, and that's what happened."
Mitchell Marner one-timed a slap shot from a rebound off the end boards at 3:05 of the first period to put the Maple Leafs up 1-0. Auston Matthews made it 2-0 with his 30th goal of the season at 9:24, taking a pass from William Nylander and beating Luongo with a shot from the slot. Toronto went up 3-0 at 13:55 when Marleau scored after taking a pass from Marner at the top of the crease.

"I thought we had a great, great start, being ready to play was important," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "We knew they were a desperate, desperate team and they were playing well. We thought if we could jump on them early, we could get going, and we did."
Huberdeau made it 3-1 at 17:49 when he shot from the slot after the Maple Leafs turned over the puck. The Panthers got within 3-2 at 15:08 of the second period when Huberdeau took a pass from Vincent Trocheck and beat Andersen with a shot from the right circle.
Van Riemsdyk put the Maple Leafs up 4-2 at 11:48 of the third period with his 35th goal of the season. Evgenii Dadonov made it 4-3 with 1:26 left.
"It is disappointing; we know it is a must win every game right now until the end," Huberdeau said. "It's a tough one to swallow right now, but we're going on back to backs, we've got to focus for tomorrow."

Goal of the game

Marleau's goal at 13:55 of the first period.

Save of the game

Andersen's save on Huberdeau at 5:38 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Luongo's save on Tyler Bozak at 1:42 of the first period.

They said it

"It's cool, it just feels like time flies by. It seems like just yesterday I was getting drafted, and to hit something like that is pretty cool, but hopefully I've got a lot more left in me." -- Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk on scoring 200 NHL goals
"We started playing hockey, that's pretty much it. They were doing pretty much whatever they wanted in the first period and got three goals. Obviously I would have liked to maybe stop one of them." -- Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo

Need to know

Andersen (36-20-5) set his NHL career high for wins; he won 35 with the Anaheim Ducks in 2014-15. He tied the Maple Leafs record with his 22nd home win (Turk Broda, 1947-48; Harry Lumley, 1953-54; Curtis Joseph, 1999-00; Ed Belfour, 2002-03). ... Marner extended his point streak to 10 games (four goals, 10 assists). ... Matthews extended his point streak to five games (three goals, two assists). He became the third Maple Leafs player to begin his NHL career with consecutive 30-goal seasons (Wendel Clark, 1985-86, 1986-87; Daniel Marois, 1988-89, 1989-90). … The Maple Leafs, who are 14-1-0 in their past 15 home games, won 45 games three times previously (1998-99, 1999-00 and 2003-04) and 26 games at home once before (2005-06).

What's next

Panthers: At the Ottawa Senators on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN5, RDS, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Maple Leafs: At the New York Islanders on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, TSN4, NHL.TV)