Troy Stecher scored with 28 seconds remaining in the third period to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Toronto opened the scoring just 1:36 into the game when Easton Cowan scored on a wrist shot. Mika Zibanejad answered for New York at 5:39 with a tip-in goal. Teddy Blueger restored the Maple Leafs lead at 10:01 of the first period, converting a tip-in for his first goal of the season.
The Rangers moved in front early in the second period with consecutive wrist-shot goals from Oliver Bjorkstrand at 2:37 and Tye Kartye at 6:30. Brandon Duhaime evened the score 3-3 for Toronto at 8:00 with his first goal of the year, and Kirill Marchenko poked in a go-ahead power-play goal at 19:09. Alexis Lafrenière tied the game 4-4 for the Rangers at 14:25 of the third period before Stecher delivered his first goal of the season at 19:32 on a wrist shot assisted by Morgan Rielly and Duhaime.
Toronto converted 1 of 2 power-play opportunities and limited New York to an 0-for-1 showing on the man advantage. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves on 25 shots to earn the victory for the Maple Leafs, while Dylan Garand stopped 30 of 35 shots in the loss for the Rangers.
The win pushed Toronto to a 6-4-2 record on a three-game winning streak. New York moved to 7-4-1 following the defeat, though defenseman Adam Fox recorded four assists in the effort to reach 14 on the season, and Duhaime produced a three-point night with a goal and two assists.
Both teams return to the ice on Saturday, October 24. The Maple Leafs visit the Edmonton Oilers, while the Rangers travel to visit the Ottawa Senators.
