Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 2
TORONTO -- Joffrey Lupul scored twice as the Toronto Maple Leafs picked up a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers Tuesday night.
The win gave Toronto (18-12-4) points in six straight games.
Florida (9-19-6) finished its season-high five-game road trip 2-3-0.
Lupul, promoted to the Leafs' top line in place of James van Riemsdyk mid-game, took a Phil Kessel feed and beat Jacob Markstrom for his sixth of the season for the game winner.
Lupul, Kessel and Tyler Bozak combined for six points in the win.
Tied 1-1 after two periods, the two teams exchanged goals 23 seconds part in the first minute of the third.
Lupul briefly gave Toronto a 2-1 lead tapping a Bozak feed past Markstrom for his fifth of the season.
Lupul now has six goals and an assist in four games since returning from a broken arm suffered in January 23.
Florida quickly responded as Shawn Matthias' pass directed off of Michael Kostka's skate and past Ben Scrivens tying it 2-2.
Trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes, Toronto showed more life in the second.
Mikhail Grabovski had an excellent chance to get the Leafs on the board, on a breakaway, but he tripped just inside the Panthers blue line and failed to get a shot off.
Grabovski redeemed himself later in the period setting up Dion Phaneuf for his sixth of the season tying the game 1-1.
Moments after the Phaneuf goal, Florida nearly took a 2-1 lead as Matthias' shot beat Scrivens, but hit the post.
Toronto had a number of chances to take their first lead of the game in the middle frame.
Lupul's backhand on a partial break was turned aside by Markstrom. Then Matt Frattin's backhand got between the pads of Markstrom, but an early whistle prevented it from crossing the goal line.
Florida played a textbook road period in the first, opening the scoring on a fluke goal and outshooting the Maple Leafs 16-7.
Thomas Fleischmann's shot re-directed off Mark Fraser and past Scrivens for his seventh of the season.
NOTES: Maple Leafs forward Clarke MacArthur missed Tuesday's game with an upper body injury and was replaced by Matt Frattin. ... The Panthers had earned points in 16 of their last 20 games against the Leafs entering Tuesday, going 13-4-3 over that span. ... Florida averaged 2.5 goals in its first 23 games, but was limited to 1.9 per game over its last 10 games entering Tuesday. ... Toronto won the first meeting between the two teams 3-0 on Feb. 18 in Sunrise. ... The Maple Leafs entered Tuesday's game having lost three of its last five games in a shootout. Toronto is 0-4 in shootouts this season.
