TORONTO — Alexei Ponikarovsky
scored the winning goal and Jonas Gustavsson made 29 saves Tuesday as
the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied to beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 on
Tuesday night.
Lee Stempniak and Tomas Kaberle also
scored for the Maple Leafs, who have won only three of 10. Toronto
began a stretch of four games in five days.
Former Maple Leafs defenseman Bryan McCabe scored both goals for Florida.
McCabe was booed whenever he touched
the puck, as he has been since being traded to Florida in September
2008. He beat the Leafs with an overtime goal last season, and then
staked the Panthers to a 2-0 lead Tuesday.
McCabe sent a slap shot past
Gustavsson at 5:32 and then beat him again with a low wrist shot on a
power play just under 3 minutes later.
It was the 21st time in 43 games
Toronto trailed 2-0. Unlike previous games, this was a hole the Maple
Leafs were able to overcome.
Stempniak started the comeback during
a power play when he one-timed Kaberle's pass over goalie Tomas Vokoun
at 10:13. Kaberle, McCabe's longtime defense partner, tied it early in
the second period with a low shot through traffic that beat Vokoun
between the legs.
Ponikarovsky completed the rally at
16:51, backhanding home a rebound after teammate Nikolai Kulemin won a
race to the puck. He pumped his fists after scoring for the first time
in eight games.
Gustavsson was instrumental in
preserving the victory. He turned aside a dangerous chance from Michael
Frolik early in the third period and got his glove on Dennis
Seidenberg's hard point shot that came through traffic.
The rookie goalie also got help as
defenseman Francois Beauchemin dived to break up a 3-on-1 rush with
under 3 minutes remaining.
John Mitchell returned to the Leafs
lineup after missing 20 games because of a sprained knee ligament. His
timing was good as Toronto centers Mikhail Grabovski (wrist) and Wayne
Primeau (knee) were injured Saturday at Calgary.
Notes
Toronto is 7-1-2 against
Southeast Division teams. … Maple Leafs D Mike Komisarek sat out due
to an undisclosed upper-body injury. … Leafs forward Phil Kessel has just
one goal in his last nine games, and no assists in his last 11. … The Panthers recalled
tough guy Steve MacIntyre and put him in the lineup in place of Nick
Tarnasky. … Toronto's Jamal Mayers recorded his 100th NHL assist.