Maple Leafs jump out to quick lead, hold off Panthers for 4-1 win

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Troy Stecher and Scott Laughton both got their first goals of the season, Dakota Joshua added a goal and an assist, and the Toronto Maple Leafs topped the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Bobby McMann had two assists for the Leafs, who have won three of their last four, and John Tavares added an empty-netter with 18.6 seconds left.

Sam Reinhart got his 14th of the season, a short-handed score in the second period for Florida. But Laughton scored with 7:42 left to restore the two-goal edge for the Leafs.

Florida has lost four of its last five, and four straight at home.

It was the first Florida-Toronto game since the second round of last season's playoffs, a series where the Maple Leafs took the first two games and held leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in Game 3 — before losing that game on a goal by Brad Marchand in overtime. Florida would roll to wins in Games 5 and 7 in Toronto, both by 6-1 scores, and went on to capture its second consecutive Stanley Cup.

But this Florida roster looked a whole lot different than the one last spring did.

The Panthers were again without their long-term injured players — Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Dmitry Kulikov, Eetu Luostarinen and Tomas Nosek among them — plus were without forward Carter Verhaeghe, who missed the game because he and his wife were expecting a baby.

It meant Florida added Jack Studnicka to its fourth line. Studnicka was making his Panthers debut and playing an NHL game for the first time since April 2024.

Maple Leafs: Visit Carolina on Thursday, the end of a six-game road trip.

Panthers: Host Nashville on Thursday, the fourth game of a six-game homestand.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) reacts after scoring a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe (22) and Florida Panthers left wing Brad Marchand (63) chase the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) defends the goal against Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell (15) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) defends the goal against Florida Panthers center Luke Kunin, right, during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) falls to the ice as he defends the goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection faced scrutiny Thursday after a watchdog group warned that forced labor persists on sugarcane fields in the Dominican Republic, which exports large amounts of sugar and other products to the U.S.

In 2022, the federal agency had imposed a ban on imports of sugar and other products made by Central Romana Corporation, Ltd., accusing the company of isolating workers, withholding wages and fostering abusive working and living conditions.

The ban, however, was lifted last year under the Trump administration, sparking an outcry that was revived when the nonprofit Corporate Accountability Lab published a report Tuesday noting that forced labor persists. The report was published following more than three years’ worth of investigations.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, sent a letter Thursday to Customs and Border Protection requesting information behind the reversal of the ban. He accused the agency of appearing “to have abruptly abandoned its own established administrative procedures.”

“Circumventing standard trade enforcement processes for politically connected, billionaire-owned corporations undermines the integrity of U.S. trade policy,” Wyden wrote.

He requested administrative records, final recommendations and other documents related to the case.

The Associated Press sought comment from the agency, which acknowledged the emailed request but had not yet commented.

“Ensuring that U.S. trade enforcement mechanisms are immune from political interference and adhere to statutory requirements is critical to ensuring that forced labor does not illegally enter the supply chain of goods unwittingly bought by American businesses and consumers,” Wyden wrote.

FILE - A youth plays near the machine where the sugar cane is weighed in the Lima batey, or neighborhood, in La Romana, where Central Romana Corporation, Ltd. operates its sugar operations in Dominican Republic, Nov. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)