TORONTO — David Booth had his first two-goal game of an injury-marred season and the Florida Panthers cooled off the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday night.
Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen came within three minutes of registering his first shutout of the season. He settled for a 42-save effort in a victory.
Michael Frolik and Jason Garrison also scored for Florida, which became the first visiting team to leave Toronto with a victory since March 2.
Fredrik Sjostrom scored for the Maple Leafs, who received 25 saves from J.S. Giguere.
Booth is starting to find his stride after missing 45 games because of a concussion sustained from a controversial hit by Philadelphia Flyers captain Mike Richards. That hit reignited the debate to regulate head shots in the NHL. The injury prevented Booth from exercising for two months and cost him a chance at playing for the United States at last month's Vancouver Olympics.
However, the 25-year-old forward seems to be regaining the form that produced 31 goals last season. Booth has four goals in four games.
Toronto entered with wins in six of seven and was hoping to move closer to escaping the basement in the Eastern Conference. The Maple Leafs remain four points back of 14th place.
The Leafs outshot the Panthers 19-8 in the first period, but went to the dressing room trailing 1-0. Booth took advantage of an error by Toronto defenseman Luke Schenn, knocking the puck from his stick before beating Giguere high to the glove at 11:30.
Toronto piled on the shots during two late power plays, but couldn't beat Clemmensen. The Maple Leafs went 0-for-6 on the power play.
Booth gave the Panthers a little more breathing room at 1:25 of the third period. He tipped Bryan McCabe's shot past Giguere to deflate the home crowd.
Florida went ahead 3-0 when Frolik's shot deflected off Maple Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle's foot and behind Giguere. Shortly after Sjostrom ended Clemmensen's shutout bid, Garrison scored into an empty net.
Notes
Luca Caputi returned to the Leafs lineup after missing Saturday's game because of sickness. … Toronto scratched Wayne Primeau and Jeff Finger. … Gregory Campbell (foot) missed the game for the Panthers. … Kaberle is the only remaining player on Toronto's roster from when McCabe played for the Maple Leafs.