Stecher scores late as Maple Leafs edge Rangers 5-4

TORONTO – Troy Stecher scored with 26.3 seconds left in regulation to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 5-4 win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

Stecher scored on a delayed penalty, taking a pass from Morgan Rielly and ripping a shot upstairs. It was the Leafs’ third straight win, and they improved to 6-4-2.

“It wasn’t pretty the whole way through but we stuck with it and that’s what we are going to take,” Stecher said.

Easton Cowan opened the scoring at 1:36 of the first period, Mika Zibanejad tied it at 5:39, and Teddy Blueger put Toronto ahead 2-1 at 10:01 on a shot that dribbled over the line.

Oliver Bjorkstrand tied it 2-2 for New York at 2:37 of the second, and Tye Kartye put the Rangers in front at 6:30. Brandon Duhaime tied it at 8:00 with his first goal as a Leaf, and Kirill Marchenko made it 4-3 on the power play late in the period.

Alexis Lafreniere tied it 4-4 at 14:25 of the third before Stecher’s winner.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for Toronto for his 459th career win, tying Henrik Lundqvist for sixth place on the NHL’s all-time list. Dylan Garand was in goal for New York, which fell to 7-4-1.

“Just a Hall of Fame career from ‘Bob,’ it’s pretty special to see firsthand,” Duhaime said.

Leafs coach Jim Hiller said it was “probably our best game of the year through 60 minutes for me.” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said: “I just didn’t like our overall game.”

The Leafs visit the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.

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Via NHL.com and The Canadian Press.