<
>

McCabe scores late in OT to torment Leafs, lead Panthers over former team

TORONTO -- Bryan McCabe keeps finding new ways to get under the skin of Toronto Maple Leafs fans.

McCabe scored 3:30 into overtime against his former team, giving the Florida Panthers a 4-3 victory over Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.

"I was just thinking hit the net -- don't miss or else they're going the other way," McCabe said. "I got lucky, you know? I'll take it."

McCabe raced up the left wing and his slap shot trickled over the goal line for his 10th of the season.

"It just snuck through under my arm," Toronto goalie Vesa Toskala said. "I thought I was in a good position and ready to make a save, but it just went through."

McCabe, who was booed every time he touched the puck, gave a hearty wave to the Air Canada Centre crowd and tossed his stick over the glass after being named first star of the game.

Again, the boos came down.

"There was some mixed reviews in the star selection," he said with a laugh.

Gregory Campbell, Stephen Weiss and Cory Stillman also scored for Florida, which trailed 3-1 heading into the final period.

Niklas Hagman, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov had Toronto's goals.

The Maple Leafs were on their way to a three-game winning streak before Stillman tied it with 52.7 seconds left, swooping in and lifting a rebound over Toskala on a power play.

"We did enough things to have won the game," Leafs coach Ron Wilson said. "But unfortunately we didn't."

Hagman put Toronto ahead at 10:52 of the first period. He slipped the puck between Nathan Horton's legs, outmuscled Jassen Cullimore to work his way to the front of the goal and slid it around Craig Anderson for his 14th goal of the season.

"To be honest, I thought I lost it a couple times so I would call it a little bit of luck," he said.

The Panthers briefly tied it when Campbell sent a rebound past Toskala at 18:53, but Ponikarovsky quickly restored the advantage. He converted a rebound with less than 20 seconds to play in the frame after Jason Blake had a wraparound attempt stopped.

Antropov made it 3-1 with a rebound goal early in the second period.

Weiss narrowed Toronto's lead 2:21 into the third after taking a great cross-ice pass from Stillman.

The Panthers nearly tied it a few minutes later but Karlis Skrastins had his point shot ring loudly off the post.

Game notes
Florida improved to 8-2-4 since Jan. 1. ... Leafs defenseman Mike Van Ryn played his first game against the Panthers since they traded him over the summer. ... Ryan Hollweg was scratched from Toronto's lineup for the ninth straight game.