Maple Leafs defeat Panthers, tie for third in Atlantic

TORONTO -- John Tavares scored twice to help the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Florida Panthers 5-2 at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday.

Tavares' last multigoal game was Nov. 6 (52 games), when he scored twice against the Boston Bruins.
"It was good, good to finish some plays off," Tavares said. "A great couple of plays by [Mitchell Marner], and especially around the net, an area I want to be good at and I think is a strength of mine. It was definitely nice to contribute in a really good way against a good opponent in a key game, so it was nice to see them go in."
Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists, Marner had three assists, and Petr Mrazek made 33 saves for the Maple Leafs (41-19-5), who are 4-2-0 in their past six.
Toronto tied the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for second.
"Obviously, a big bounce back game for us (after a 4-2 loss on Saturday to the Montreal Canadiens). These back-to-backs aren't always easy, but it was good to have a good effort," Rielly said. "We haven't played these guys, they're in our division and they're having a great year, so we had a good reason to be ready, and we were, so that's a good sign."

Spencer Knight made 20 saves for the Panthers (44-15-6), who had won three in a row. Florida leads Tampa Bay by six points for first after finishing a seven-game road trip 4-2-1.
"I really liked our road effort night in, night out," Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. "We put ourselves in position in all the road games to get points and win games. That's all you can ask for."
Tavares put the Maple Leafs up 3-2 at 11:12 of the second period when he redirected a pass from Marner at the left side of the crease on a power play.
"It's the best I've ever seen," Tavares said of Marner's passing ability. "His awareness out there is exceptional, the way he sees the play develop two or three steps. The way he sees things ahead of time, he communicated to me before the goal about being ready for that play, that lane."
Ilya Mikheyev made it 4-2 at 9:12 of the third period when he took a pass from Marner and scored past Knight's outstretched left pad with his backhand.
Matthews shot into an empty net with one second remaining for the 5-2 final. It was his NHL-leading 48th goal of the season, setting a career high.
"We're not worried," Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg said. "We're going to get back to work and see them down the road here."
Lomberg gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead at 1:27 of the second period when he shot from just below the left hash marks after Eetu Luostarinen forced a turnover by William Nylander.
Tavares tied it 2-2 at 5:10. He scored with a backhand over Knight's left pad after Marner's shot led to a rebound.

Rielly scored 49 seconds into the first period to put Toronto ahead 1-0, redirecting a shot from TJ Brodie at the left side of the crease.
The Panthers tied it 1-1 at 10:11 when Brandon Montour one-timed a pass from Sam Bennett in the slot.
"We made a mistake on the first goal for sure there, but that's the most dangerous team in the League, maybe save for Colorado, on the rush, and I don't think we really gave up anything on the rush today," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "It was a huge challenge for our team to do that and we stuck with that all the way through. So when you do that and you're playing against a top offensive team in the NHL, you've taken away a lot of their weapons right there and it gave us a chance."
Mrazek has won his past two starts, allowing two goals in each game, after giving up 20 in his previous five appearances. He had been put on waivers March 20.
"It shows he's a battler, he competes, he believes in himself," Keefe said. "He was outstanding again tonight. That's two in a row now that he's looked like the goalie that he is and has been throughout his career, so that's great he's bounced back and responded well to adversity here. That's a terrific sign and a testament to his character."
NOTES: Marner had his 18th three-assist game in the NHL. He became the 15th Maple Leafs player to have 300 assists and is the fastest to accomplish the feat (411 games), surpassing the previous record set by Borje Salming (469 games). … Jonathan Huberdeau earned his NHL-leading 69th assist on Montour's goal, giving him 90 points for the second time (2018-19). He is the second Panthers player to have two 90-point seasons (Pavel Bure in 1999-2000, 2000-01).