Matthews stays hot, Maple Leafs defeat Panthers to push point streak to 7

TORONTO -- Auston Matthews scored for the third straight game for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 4-1 win against the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

Matthews, who became the leading goal-scorer in Maple Leafs history on Saturday with two goals at the New York Islanders, scored his 422nd in the NHL to give him six goals on his three-game streak.

“We played a good team game. All four lines played hard, played physical,” Matthews said. “I thought our forecheck was really good tonight. I thought our goaltending was great. Those are the kinds of efforts we need on nights like this, against opponents like this. When you are missing a lot of guys, you need everyone to chip in a little bit more.”

Matthew Knies had a goal and an assist, and Joseph Woll made 31 saves for the Maple Leafs (20-15-7), who are 5-0-2 in their past seven.

“This game is played in the corners, winning those scrums, and at the net like that's how they're going to play,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “They're going to win the scrums in the corner. They're going to get it up to their defense and they're going to the net. And we got to get into guys. We got to have numbers around there, block shots, battle around the net. We got to win the swarms in the offensive zone. We got to get the puck up top, and we got to win the races to the net. And we did a good job of it tonight. That's the game against these guys.”

Carter Verhaeghe scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves for the Panthers (22-17-3), who are 1-2-1 in their past four.

“We started slow and found a way to get slower, and then when you’re down three at that point, the risk profiles of both teams change,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “I didn’t like our game tonight at all.”

Panthers forward Brad Marchand left the game at the end of the second period with an undisclosed injury.

“He’s been dealing with something,” Maurice said. “It just got the point we didn't want to make it worse. We're a little sensitive about injuries here now and do our best to keep guys healthy. So, that was a coach's decision.”

The Maple Leafs went up 1-0 at 19:36 of the first period. Easton Cowan took a pass from Nicholas Robertson and scored at the side of the net with Bobrovsky out of position.

Knies made it 2-0 just 42 seconds into the second period when he deflected Troy Stecher’s shot from the slot.

Matthews pushed it to 3-0 at 4:01. Knies cut through the slot and fought off Niko Mikkola before swinging a pass back to the Maple Leafs captain, who shot past Bobrovsky’s right pad from the slot. The goal extended Matthews’ point streak to five games (seven goals, four assists).

“Not entirely (aware of where Matthews was), but I heard him and obviously he’s a good goal-scorer. He knows to put himself in a good area like that in front of the net,” Knies said.

Verhaeghe cut it to 3-1 at 11:38 of the third period when he gloved down a clearing attempt from Woll and banked a shot in off the Maple Leafs goalie from below the goal line.

“They were just playing faster than us for the first half of the game, for sure,” Panthers forward Noah Gregor said. “They were playing faster, a little more physical. I thought we got a little better as the game went on, but it’s going to be hard to come back from 3-0 against teams like that.”

Toronto killed off 3:54 of a 6-on-5 advantage for Florida after Bobrovksy was pulled for the extra attacker before Bobby McMann shot into an empty net with eight seconds left for the 4-1 final.

“We kept them to the outside,” said Maple Leafs forward Scott Laughton, who played 3:10 of the final 4:02. “(Assistant coach) Derek Lalonde has done a good job with us explaining and making sure we are ready for it. We have the guys to do it, and Joe was great covering pucks. Sometimes you have to ice it. We have the best face-off team in the League, so you have to trust your centermen to go out and do a job.”

NOTES: The Maples Leafs honored Matthews for becoming the team’s all-time leading goal-scorer with a special pregame ceremony. Matthews surpassed Mats Sundin, who presented Matthews with a plaque featuring the pucks of his 420th and 421st goals, as well as the game sheet from the game against the Islanders. ... Maple Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo played 17:41 and was plus-2 in his return after missing 23 games with an ankle injury that required surgery.