Overview
- Easton Cowan scored late in the first, Matthew Knies made it 2-0 early in the second, Auston Matthews pushed the lead to 3-0, and Bobby McMann sealed it with an empty-netter after Carter Verhaeghe ended the shutout bid.
- Joseph Woll stopped 31 of 32 shots as Florida held a 32-23 edge in shots on goal.
- Mats Sundin took part in a pregame ceremony recognizing Matthews as Toronto’s all-time goals leader; Matthews is at 422 career goals and has seven goals and 11 points in five games since the break.
- Brad Marchand did not play the third period after the team chose not to aggravate an existing issue, and earlier in the day he said his free agency decision came down to Florida or Toronto and criticized Leafs fans over Mitch Marner’s departure.
- Defenseman Brandon Carlo returned from foot surgery for Toronto, the Leafs notched a sixth straight home win, and both teams sit at 47 points, two behind Pittsburgh for the final Eastern wild-card spot.