Marner scores twice in Maple Leafs victory against Rangers

TORONTO -- Mitchell Marner scored two goals and had an assist in the third period to help the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the New York Rangers 5-3 at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

Marner has scored six times during a four-game goal streak after he had six goals in the first 32 games of the season.
"I think I'm just thinking more of shooting, getting to the net more, and when you get around that net, chances come more often, so that's been something I've been trying to focus on recently," Marner said.
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Maple Leafs highlights]
Andreas Johnsson had a goal and two assists, Morgan Rielly had a goal and an assist, and Frederik Andersen made 25 saves for the Maple Leafs (24-10-2), who have won three games in a row.
"We were in a hockey game all the way up to the end there," Rielly said. "I thought we stuck with it, played well, played our system. I thought our penalty kill was good. All-around good win."

Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider scored, Neal Pionk had a goal and an assist, and Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves for the Rangers (15-14-5), who have lost four out of five (1-2-2).
"We're right there the whole night," Kreider said. "I think we liked our process. Regardless of the outcome, I think our process in our game is continuing to improve."

Johnsson gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead when Marner's shot went in off him at 1:37 of the third period after he was knocked down in the crease. The goal initially was credited to Marner, but it was changed just before Marner scored his second of the game.
Rielly made it 3-1 at 5:26 when he took a pass from Johnsson and scored with a high shot from the slot.
"Good play. Our defense have been wanting to be a bit more active and up in the rush, so that was a good play by [Johnsson] and good vision, and it turned out to be an important play," Rielly said.
Hayes got the Rangers to within 3-2 at 6:34 when he scored from the top of the crease on the rebound of a Filip Chytil shot from the slot on net.
Marner put Toronto ahead 4-2 at 12:53 after he took a behind-the-back pass from John Tavares that sent him in alone on Georgiev.
"I knew it was coming to me there regardless, I knew he was going to find a way," Marner said. "That's something he likes to do a lot in practice, so when he got that opportunity, I knew exactly what he was going to do. It was a great play by him."
Kreider made it 4-3 at 16:19 when he tipped Marc Staal's shot from the left point.

Marner scored into an empty net with 20 seconds left to make it 5-3.
"Oh, it got away at times," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said when asked about their structure in the third period. "I liked our first period (better)."
Patrick Marleau deflected Rielly's shot from the blue line to give Toronto a 1-0 lead 2:58 into the game.

Rangers defenseman Adam McQuaid was penalized at 6:10 of the second period for holding William Nylander and cross-checking Nazem Kadri, but New York killed the four-minute power play.
"It gave us a lot of energy," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "(Assistant) Lindy [Ruff] has done a great job with our penalty kill over the last few games. Tonight, killing those four minutes, you're holding your breath against that power play, but we made some good adjustments and our guys really competed."
New York tied it 1-1 at 15:00 of the second period when Pionk scored with a slap shot from above the right face-off circle.
"Absolutely there's frustration," Staal said. "We're right there giving ourselves an opportunity on the road to win a game against a good team. We definitely did some good things throughout the game, so it's a quick turnaround tomorrow (when the Rangers play the Philadelphia Flyers). We can't get too down, build on the things we did well, and go into our own rink and try to get a win."

They said it

"I love the fact that we battled back and didn't quit. There were a lot of good things out of tonight, but there were certainly things that we need to improve on and learn from. They've got the talent to take advantage of those types of mistakes." -- Rangers coach David Quinn
"People are losing their hats for no reason here. It's pretty funny. I feel pretty bad for them. If they're Leafs hats, I'm guessing they're not cheap. ... Those poor people." -- Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner on fans thinking he had a hat trick after they also thought John Tavares had scored a third goal in a 6-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Thursday

Need to know

Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei played his 200th NHL game. … Toronto forward Tyler Ennis broke his ankle in the second period. "He's out for a while," Babcock said. The Maple Leafs have 11 healthy forwards and will recall one from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

What's next

Rangers: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, MSG, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
Maple Leafs: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN, SN360, TVAS, FS-D, NHL.TV)