In Sunrise Tuesday night, newly acquired Thomas Vanek collected four assists in a 7-2 win for the Florida Panthers over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
James Reimer picked up the win over Toronto Tuesday – file photo by Jack Lima
“We played the right way, chipped pucks in most of the time. We didn’t force plays into the middle of the ice. They’ve got an unbelievable transition game and probably the best young forwards in the League as far as skill goes. If we got risky, then we would have paid the price and I’m glad we didn’t,” Florida head coach Tom Rowe said after the win.
Jonathan Marchessault had two goals in the win.
“He’s (Vanek) been big since he’s come in,” Marchessault said. “Tonight was a good way to show how good he is. He was amazing.”
The win snapped a five-game skid for Florida.
Aleksander Barkov, Jussi Jokinen, Keith Yandle, Colton Sceviour, and Reilly Smith also scored for the Panthers as they improved their record to 30-27-11.
“We know we have the offense in here to be able to score some goals,” Yandle said, “but when we’re playing simple and smart that’s when we’re at our best and the offense takes care of itself.”
James Reimer made 28 saves to pick up the win.
“We knew the importance of the game tonight and that adds to the disappointment of the effort. There’s lot of good teams out there competing for not that many spots. Tonight we let an opportunity get away from us,”Toronto’s Morgan Rielly said of the loss.
Leo Komarov and Nikita Soshnikov struck for goals for Toronto as the Leafs dropped to 31-23-14.
“We were poor in our decisions,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “When you’re not prepared and you don’t compete at a high enough level, you get fed your lunch.”
WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Panthers highlights
Frederik Andersen got the start for the Leafs but was given the ever ubiquitous hook after the first period when he yielded three goals on just eight shots.
Curtis McElhinney relieved Andersen and faired little better.
“It’s definitely unacceptable and we’re well aware of that. We’re not proud of that performance but we’re usually a team that can respond rather quickly and we’re looking to do that on Thursday (against Tampa Bay),” Nazem Kadri said.
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