Maple Leafs jump out to quick lead, hold off Panthers for 4-1 win

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) Troy Stecher and Scott Laughton both got their first goals of the season, Dakota Joshua added a goal and an assist, and the Toronto Maple Leafs topped the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Bobby McMann had two assists for the Leafs, who have won three of their last four, and John Tavares added an empty-netter with 18.6 seconds left.

Sam Reinhart got his 14th of the season, a short-handed score in the second period for Florida. But Laughton scored with 7:42 left to restore the two-goal edge for the Leafs.

Florida has lost four of its last five, and four straight at home.

It was the first Florida-Toronto game since the second round of last season's playoffs, a series where the Maple Leafs took the first two games and held leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in Game 3 - before losing that game on a goal by Brad Marchand in overtime. Florida would roll to wins in Games 5 and 7 in Toronto, both by 6-1 scores, and went on to capture its second consecutive Stanley Cup.

But this Florida roster looked a whole lot different than the one last spring did.

The Panthers were again without their long-term injured players - Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Dmitry Kulikov, Eetu Luostarinen and Tomas Nosek among them - plus were without forward Carter Verhaeghe, who missed the game because he and his wife were expecting a baby.

It meant Florida added Jack Studnicka to its fourth line. Studnicka was making his Panthers debut and playing an NHL game for the first time since April 2024.

Maple Leafs: Visit Carolina on Thursday, the end of a six-game road trip.

Panthers: Host Nashville on Thursday, the fourth game of a six-game homestand.

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