Maple Leafs beat Panthers to move out of last place

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If you can't beat them in the playoffssend them to the basement.

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After being eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in two of the last three years, the Maple Leafs put the two-time defending Cup champions in a tough spot Tuesday night.

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Toronto beat Florida 4:1 and left the club last place in the Eastern Conferencewhile leaving the Panthers to scrape the bottom of the conference.

The Leafs played smart hockey and quickly improved to 4-7-0 on the road. They won two tournaments in a row for the first time since they won three tournaments in a row from November 1 to 5.

“A solid game all around,” coach Craig Berube told reporters later at Amerant Bank Arena. “The goalkeeper (Joseph Wall) was good, he checked well, he was physical, a lot of good things. It was good to see that.

“It was probably one of the fastest games we've played all year. We closed our eyes on people, and when we had pucks, we skated and attacked, and our checking was good.”

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The Leafs are 3-1-0 heading into Thursday night's game in Carolina against the Hurricanes. but still need to climb the hill.

Toronto is three points out of third place in the Atlantic Division and four points out of second place in the conference.

Three conclusions:

You complete me

From top to bottom, it was the Leafs' most complete victory of the 2025-26 season.

Movable bottom six forwards, captained by Auston Matthews and John Tavares rallying for an empty-net goal, the victory came because the Leafs executed, won puck battles and didn't give Florida much space in the defensive zone.

If you think it's time for the Leafs to play this way, you're not alone.

Third line Nicolas Roy between Dakota Joshua and Bobby McMann had another strong outing to set the competitive pace. It's a big trio that needs to constantly wear down opponents with physical force, and as we saw on Tuesday, there's not much that can be done when Joshua comes out to goal with a goal in mind.

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That's exactly what Joshua did, scoring the winning goal at 7:54 of the first period, 2 1/2 minutes after defenseman Troy Stecher opened the scoring. It was the third game in a row that the Leafs had the first shot on goal.

“They just do it,” Berube said of Roy’s line. “Joshua and McMann played really well against the walls in our zone and Roy does a great job providing support down low.

“They forecheck hard. They keep pucks in the offensive zone, get to the net and get the job done.”

Roy won 12 of 15 draws as the Leafs dominated the circle, winning 39 of 54 faceoffs.

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Two goals, two first

The first goal of the season meant different things to Stecher and Scott Laughton.

For Stecher, whose point shot went over a screen set by Roy, it was a nice addition to the way he has played since the Leafs claimed him off waivers from Edmonton on Nov. 15.

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Lawton can stop gripping the stick.. His goal came from a determined attack from Nick Robertson, who battled veteran defenseman Gustav Forsling in the corner for the puck.

“It was nice,” Laughton told TSN's Mark Masters afterward. “A little relief.”

No one expects Laughton to score in every game, but it was just his third goal in 28 regular-season games since the Leafs acquired him from Philadelphia last March.

Toronto could use some of Laughton's production as it continues to try to get back into the playoff picture.

The Leafs held the lead into the third period, and Laughton's goal put a comeback out of Florida's reach.

“Big win for us,” Joshua said. “We have to keep doing this.”

The power play fails

No game is perfect, and for the Leafs, it was a power play with five forwards (Matthews, Tavares, William Nylander, Matthew Nice and Easton Cowan) that had some ugliness.

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The Panthers took advantage and scored short-handed when Sam Reinhart beat Wall at 14:43 of the second period.

It was one thing for Mitch Marner to occupy a power play position with five forwards. Another was when Matthews was asked to do it and the Leafs lost on Tuesday.

Matthews looked out of sorts against the Panthers forward, and the Leafs were everywhere but in the right places when Reinhart found open ice to score.

The Leafs went scoreless on three power plays. They rank 27th in the NHL in terms of player numbers.

Matthews is not used as well as a power play defenseman. His shot is intended for the flanks. He admitted this week that he faces a “big adjustment” for the QB PP position, which was as important as he was going to get.

Matthews should know that this is not the best place for him.

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