Maple Leafs 2 - 4 Panthers
Final
  for this game

Bjugstad leads Panthers past Maple Leafs

Apr 11, 2014 - 4:10 AM Sunrise, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Nick Bjugstad posted his first two-goal game and finished with a career-high three points as the Florida Panthers picked up a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at BB&T Center.

Bjugstad assisted on Brad Boyes' tie-breaking goal with three seconds left in the second period before scoring twice in the third to help the Panthers win for the second time in their last three games.

Brandon Pirri potted Florida's other goal on his 23rd birthday, while Roberto Luongo turned aside 27 shots in the triumph.

Tyler Bozak and Paul Ranger each scored or Toronto, which has lost three straight games.

Drew MacIntyre, 30, made his first NHL start between the pipes and stopped 33 shots in the setback.

"It was a lot of fun," MacIntyre remarked of his first career start. "It's been a long time, but it was awesome. I was hoping it would be a win, that's how I envisioned it, but anyway, I'm glad that the first one's out of the way and I very much hope that I get another one someday."

The game seemed destined to head to the third locked at 1-1, but Boyes picked up Bjugstad's wraparound attempt on the low right side and buried the disc into the back of the net for a 2-1 lead with 3.0 seconds on the clock.

Bjugstad scored on a wraparound from the low left side 3:23 into the third before converting a short-handed 2-on-1 rush with a wrister from the right circle off a Tomas Fleischmann feed to make it 4-1 at 6:02.

"It was good to get the lead and obviously they bounced back and had one but we didn't let up," Bjugstad said.

Ranger registered his sixth of the season with 6:03 left to account for the final margin.

Early on, Pirri got the Panthers on the board 6:06 into the game when he beat MacIntyre glove side from the inner half of the left circle.

Bozak evened things 4:13 into the second, as an odd-man rush saw the Toronto center sneak a wrister past Roberto Luongo's blocker from the inner half of the left circle to make it 1-1 at 4:13.

Game Notes

Both teams entered the game out of postseason contention ... MacIntyre, who was drafted by Detroit in the fourth round back in 2001, appeared in just his sixth NHL game ... Toronto will complete its season Saturday in Ottawa ... The Panthers will host Columbus in their season finale on Saturday ... Florida's Sean Bergenheim and Toronto's Jake Gardiner each notched two assists.






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