Niklas Hagman scored his second goal of the game with just over seven minutes left to help the Toronto Maple Leafs come all the way back in a 6-4 road win over the Florida Panthers on Friday night.

Hagman got his 13th of the season by stickhandling between three Panthers and firing a low backhander past Tomas Vokoun. It was the Finn's seventh goal in six games and it put Toronto up to stay.

"It's nice to have a streak like this," Hagman said. "I've been fortunate when I am getting chances I manage to put it in. You don't want to think about it too much."

It was Toronto's first lead of the game, and Matt Stajan iced it with an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

Phil Kessel also scored twice for Toronto (6-11-7), which trailed 2-0 just over two minutes into the game. Alexei Ponikarovsky was a force near the net for the Leafs, with a goal and three assists.

The Leafs went two-for-two on their Florida trip and have points in each of their last four games (3-0-1). They return to action at home against Buffalo on Monday.

"Maybe the worm is finally turning for us," Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. "We've been outshooting everybody and we've got a couple of really confident guys in [Kessel] and Hagman, who have just found a way to get in the net."

Rookie goalie Jonas Gustavsson recovered after the disastrous start, keeping his teammates in the game until they awoke from their slumber. Gustavsson stopped 26 shots.

The Maple Leafs got a first-hand look at the promise of Florida rookie defenceman Dmitry Kulikov, who scored twice. Radek Dvorak and Michael Frolik gave the Panthers the early two-goal lead, while Steve Reinprecht and Dennis Seidenberg each finished with two assists.

Goalie falters

Vokoun, hot of late, didn't have his best night for Florida (10-10-4). The Czech netminder finished with 27 saves.

"For us, four goals has to be enough to win," Panthers coach Pete DeBoer said. "We didn't do enough tonight keeping the puck out of our own end, as a group, to deserve a win."

Florida quickly turned the puck up ice from its own blue-line on the first goal 71 seconds in, the play culminating with Dvorak blasting a shot from the right circle past Gustavsson's blocker.

The Leafs would take a penalty seconds later, and the Panthers pounced. Frolik took a Rostislav Olesz pass and beat Gustavsson from a sharp angle at the 2:04 mark.

It was the 12th time in 24 games the Maple Leafs had fallen behind 2-0.

It could have easily been a four-goal lead by the eight-minute mark if not for Toronto's rookie netminder. Nathan Horton undressed Carl Gunnarson and skated in alone, trying a deke that Gustavsson stopped with his right pad.

The Swedish goalie was then forced to make a glove save on another Horton breakaway.

"It's not the best start with the early goals but we came back strongly and I had some more saves to show my teammates I'm not quitting," Gustavsson said. "We came back and scored a lot of goals and that helped."

Colton Orr tried to get the visitors engaged by dropping the gloves for a marathon bout with the bigger Steve MacIntyre.

It seemed to help. Not long after Stajan was foiled in close, Kessel burst down the right side and around Keith Ballard before beating Vokoun.

By the end of the period, Toronto was outplaying Florida, reflected by a 15-12 shot advantage.

An easy put-in

Horton took an early penalty to help the Leafs get on even terms early in the second. Ponikarovsky and Mikhail Grabovski did effective digging to set up Hagman with an easy put-in at the side of the net.

Gustavsson made sure Florida didn't reply quickly, catching Reinprecht's shot from the slot seconds later.

Ian White's slapshot handcuffed Vokoun near the eight-minute mark, but the rebound was cleared away from harm.

The 19-year-old Kulikov was allowed to roam into the Toronto end unchecked on the play that led to the 3-2 goal, hammering a Horton pass behind Gustavsson.

The Maple Leafs enjoyed a two-man advantage later in the period. Tomas Kaberle rang a shot off the post and Kessel had Vokoun down and out but couldn't lift it over the prone netminder.

The Leafs would finally make good on the power play to tie it again at the 14:33 mark when White's slapper was deflected by Ponikarovsky.

Kaberle also drew an assist on the play to tie Tim Horton for second place among Leafs defencemen all-time with 458 points. Borje Salming had 768 points.

The action was woolly late in the middle frame. Gustavsson had the puck fall behind him in the crease before it was cleared away, while Jason Blake was handed a stick from the bench mid-stride before setting up a good scoring chance.

Gustavsson denied Ballard with his glove on an early third-period power play, but the Panthers were resilient.

Kulikov finished a give-and-go with Reinprecht on the same man advantage to take a lead that would last only 13 seconds.

Florida got caught napping on the ensuing face off. Ponikarovsky threw the puck from the boards to the net, with Kessel potting the fat rebound Vokoun yielded.

Christian Hanson drew an assist on the Hagman winner for his first point of the season.

With files from The Associated Press