Mar 20, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Steven Lorentz (18) skates the puck from behind the net chased by New York Rangers defenseman Will Borgen (17) during the first period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images John Taveres scored twice and added an assist to become the eighth active player to reach 1,100 career points as the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs recorded a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday.
Tavares scored Toronto’s first goal in the first period and netted the tiebreaking goal 4:16 into the second to help the Maple Leafs (42-24-3, 87 points) win their third straight.
Taveres notched his sixth multigoal game this season and tied a season-high with three points by setting up a goal by Bobby McMann late in the first period.
Matthew Knies also scored and Jack McCabe collected a career-high three assists by setting up Toronto’s first three goals. William Nylander contributed two assists and reached 600 career points by setting up Tavares’ first goal.
Will Borgen scored in the final minute of the first and Artemi Panarin scored his eighth goal in an 11-game points streak early in the second as the Rangers (33-31-6, 72 points) dropped their third straight and fell to 2-5-2 in their past nine.
Chris Kreider added a late goal in the final minute after goalie Igor Shesterkin was pulled but the Rangers dropped their fifth straight home game (0-4-1).
Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves, while Shesterkin stopped 24 shots.
Tavares opened the scoring with just over seven minutes left in the opening period after Nylander beat New York defenseman K’Andre Miller to a loose puck along the boards in the defensive zone.
The Maple Leafs quickly moved up ice and Tavares finished off the sequence by moving to the edge of the left circle and hammering a shot over Shesterkin’s glove following a cross-ice pass from McCabe.
Borgen scored on a shot from the right point that banked inside the right post with 48 seconds left to tie it. McMann scored 38 seconds later when he had his back to Shesterkin and deflected a shot from Tavares after the puck was also re-directed by McCabe.
Panarin hammered a rebound into the vacated right side of the net 82 seconds into the middle period for a 2-2 tie but the Maple Leafs capitalized on miscues and regained control.
After defensemen Adam Fox and Carson Soucy collided in front of the net, Tavares easily skated into the right circle and put a shot by Shesterkin 4:16 into the second.
The Maple Leafs extended their lead with 5:34 remaining when Knies came off the bench on a line change, took Nylander’s backhander pass from behind the net at the right circle and whipped a shot over Shesterkin.
–Field Level Media
