After a shocking 3-2 home defeat to the Sabres on Monday, the Maple Leafs returned to their winning ways at Air Canada Centre Wednesday night.
James van Riemsdyk scored the game-winning goal in a 4-3 victory over the Florida Panthers to help Toronto claim its 46th win of the season and 27th at home, both of which are franchise records.
The @MapleLeafs established franchise records for wins (46) and home wins (27) in a single season. #NHLStats #FLAvsTOR pic.twitter.com/Ibb6S2rwWW
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 29, 2018
Auston Matthews scored his 30th goal of the year, becoming the third player in team history to reach the 30-goal plateau in each of his first two seasons.
Mitch Marner and Patrick Marleau also scored for the Maple Leafs, who have now won 14 of their last 15 games at Air Canada Centre.
Frederik Andersen stopped 30 of the 33 shots he faced for his career-best 36th win of the year. He also tied the franchise record for home wins by a goaltender in a single season with 22.
With tonight’s win, Frederik Andersen has established a new career-best single-season win total (36) while tying the @MapleLeafs single-season franchise record for home wins by a goaltender (22 per @EliasSports ). #TMLtalk
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) March 29, 2018
Toronto's historic night could have been even better, but the Flyers beat the Avalanche in regulation later Wednesday evening to make the Maple Leafs (46-24-7) wait at least one more day to playoff spot for the second consecutive season.