"The second goal was a pretty play in front of the net from Dakota Joshua, with McMann and Stecher grabbing the assists. While Nic Roy didn't contribute to any of these goals, he provided a pivotal screen in front of Sergei Bobrovsky which helped Stecher beat him through traffic, and he had some big chances later in the game as well."
"The third goal of the game came within the last ten minutes of the third period, and it went to a candidate that needed one more than anybody in Scott Laughton. You could see the relief on his face after he cleaned up a rebound in front of Bobrovsky and scored what's only his third goal since joining the Maple Leafs at the 2025 trade deadline."
"People love to refer to wins like these as 'a meaningless game in December', maybe less so in this case because it came against a division rival, but it goes to show that there's no such thing as a meaningless game. The Leafs haven't won more than three games in a row yet this season, so the temperature is already higher than normal to get two points and there's an extra element of pressure doing it against a team like Florida."
The Toronto Maple Leafs were heavily reliant on star players, contributing to underperformance, while depth forwards produced a pivotal effort in a win over the Florida Panthers. The third line generated both early goals: Troy Stecher scored his first goal as a Leaf with assists from Dakota Joshua and Bobby McMann, and Joshua finished another beautiful play with assists from McMann and Stecher. Nic Roy screened Sergei Bobrovsky and created additional chances. Scott Laughton scored a late third-period goal — his third since joining at the 2025 trade deadline — after overcoming injury setbacks. Joseph Woll made 25 saves on 26 shots.
Read at TheLeafsNation
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]