Injured Reimer KO’d in second period in loss
TORONTO — Auston Matthews broke Wendel Clark’s 31-yearold franchise rookie record with his 35th goal of the season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs earned a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
The victory kept Toronto (87 points) one point up on the Bruins (86) for the third playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
Curtis McElhinney made 25 saves to earn the win for the Leafs. Leo Komarov and Zach Hyman also scored for Toronto.
James Reimer allowed two goals on 14 shots for Florida before he was knocked from the game with an injury and replaced by Reto Berra, who made 10 saves. Reilly Smith and Jaromir Jagr scored for the Panthers.
Starting in place of injured No. 1 goaltender Frederik Andersen, McElhinney was the focus in Toronto before the game, but Matthews quickly wiped that away with his record-setting score 12 minutes in.
Hyman instigated the action, c o n t r o l l i n g t h e p u c k f r o m behind the Florida goal before finding Matthews in front, his shot slipping between the pads of Reimer to top Clark for the franchise mark.
Matthews joined Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby as the only rookies since the 199596 season to scored 35 goals.
The Leafs controlled almost every aspect of the first period, outshooting the Panthers 13-3 while spending shift after shift in Florida’s zone. Komarov increased Toronto’s lead to 2-0 less than three minutes after Matthews’ goal, finishing a 2-on-1 opportunity with Connor Brown.
Falling out of the playoff race in recent weeks, Florida found some pushback in the opening minutes of the second, but McElhinney was sharp. He stopped Jussi Jokinen and Smith on consecutive chances around the midway point of the period.
Smith got the Panthers on the board with less than five minutes left in the second, beating Matthews to the net as he redirected Keith Yandle’s point pass.
McElhinney made two big saves early in the third to keep the Leafs in front, the latter a right pad stop on Aleksander Barkov. It was shortly after, that Hyman scored a short-handed goal that increased Toronto’s lead back to two.
Jagr pulled Florida within one in the final minute of regulation.