Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers trade early goals before 4-goal third period swings it at Madison Square Garden

The Toronto Maple Leafs left Madison Square Garden with a 27-25-11 record and 2 points after a 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers, who moved to 24-29-8 and 6 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs vs New York Rangers match summary starts with the Leafs generating 31 shots while the Rangers finished with 24 shots and an empty-net goal.

First period

The Toronto Maple Leafs opened the scoring with 1 goal in the first period while holding a 54 faceoff win percent on 56 draws in the game. The Rangers answered with 1 first-period goal, and the Leafs totaled 27 hits to the Rangers’ 22.

Second period

The Leafs added 1 goal in the second period after finishing the night with 13 missed shots and 9 blocked shot attempts. The Rangers countered with 1 second-period goal, and their goaltender recorded 29 saves on 31 shots against. In the Toronto Maple Leafs vs New York Rangers review, the Leafs went 0-for-1 on the power play with 1 shot on that opportunity.

Third period

The Rangers scored 4 goals in the third period and finished with 1 power-play goal on 2 opportunities. The Leafs scored 0 goals in the third period, and Joseph Woll finished with 18 saves while facing 24 shots against, including 1 shorthanded save. Alexis Lafreniere, Will Cuylle, and Jaroslav Chmelar were named the game’s 3 stars for the Rangers after New York posted 5 even-strength goals.

Post-game notes

Easton Cowan scored 1 goal on 3 shots for the Leafs in the previous game, and Matias Maccelli recorded 1 goal on 2 shots while taking 1 penalty. Auston Matthews logged 4 shots in that previous outing, and John Tavares had 1 assist as the Leafs tried to match the Rangers’ 25 shooting percent in this result. For post-game thoughts Toronto Maple Leafs, the team finished with 12 giveaways while the Rangers had 13, and New York added 5 takeaways to Toronto’s 3.

Next on the schedule

The Tampa Bay Lightning are scheduled to visit the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on 3/7/2026 at 7:00 PM EDT, with coverage on NHL Network and The Spot. Toronto Maple Leafs vs New York Rangers final thoughts begin and end with the Rangers leaving this one closed at 00:00 on the clock, and fans can run it back by sharing this article and sending it to another Leafs supporter.