Breaking: Leafs Auston Matthews Rejects $25 million Extension Demands more…

Auston Matthews scored his league-leading 61st and 62nd goals of the season and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the visiting Florida Panthers 6-4 Monday night. Toronto took a 5-1 lead into the third period but Florida cut it to 5-4 before Matthews scored into an empty net at 19:14. Matthews added an assist to establishing a new career high with the two goals. Nicholas Robertson and Matthew Knies each had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who have won three in a row. Tyler Bertuzzi and David Kampf also scored for Toronto (43-22-9, 95 points). Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves in the win. Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists and Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennet and Brandon Montour also scored for Florida (47-23-5, 99 points). Sergei Bobrovsky allowed five goals on 16 shots in two periods for the Panthers, who have lost seven of nine. Anthony Stolarz took over in the third period and made six saves. Toronto scored twice in 33 seconds in the first period. Knies made the pass after a turnover that sprung Robertson, who scored his 12th goal of the season on a breakaway at 13:59.