Mitch Marner had two goals and an assist in the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs held on to defeat the visiting New York Rangers 5-3 Saturday night.
Patrick Marleau, Morgan Rielly and Andreas Johnsson also scored for the Maple Leafs, who scored four times in the third period en route to their third win in a row. John Tavares and Johnsson each added two assists.
Kevin Hayes and Neal Pionk each had a goal and an assist for the Rangers, and Chris Kreider added a goal.
Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen made 25 saves.
Alexandar Georgiev stopped 31 shots for New York.
Marleau notched his 10th goal this season with a deflection from the left circle of Rielly's point shot at 2:58 of the first period.
The Maple Leafs held a 15-10 advantage in shots on goal after one period.
The Maple Leafs killed off Marleau's holding penalty assessed at 1:10 of the second period, then went on the power play at 6:10 when Rangers defenseman Adam McQuaid received two minor penalties -- holding and cross-checking. The Rangers survived the four-minute short-handed situation.
The Rangers tied the score at 15:00 of the second when Pionk wired a shot from the right point for his fifth goal this season after a cross-ice pass from Jimmy Vesey.
The Maple Leafs led in shots on goal 25-20 after two periods.
Toronto took a 2-1 lead at 1:37 of the third period on Johnsson's eighth goal this season.
Rielly shot in his 12th goal this season from the left circle at 5:26 of the third to put Toronto ahead 3-1. Hayes retaliated at 6:34 for his 10th this season to trim the lead to 3-2.
Marner scored at 12:53, breaking in alone with a nifty move to restore the two-goal margin.
The Rangers crept within one again on Kreider's 16th goal of the season at 16:19.
Marner added his 12th goal of the season into an empty net at 19:40.
Toronto's Tyler Ennis left the game with an ankle injury and did not return.
--Field Level Media
NY Rangers | Toronto | |
Kevin Hayes 2 | Points | Mitchell Marner 3 |
Kevin Hayes 1 | Goals | Mitchell Marner 2 |
Kevin Hayes 1 | Assists | Andreas Johnsson 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Alexandar Georgiev .886 | Save Percentage | Frederik Andersen .893 |
Alexandar Georgiev 31 | Saves | Frederik Andersen 25 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
NY Rangers | 28 | 3 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 4 | 19 |
Toronto | 36 | 5 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 4 | 32 |