Auston Matthews scores NHL-leading 50th, Maple Leafs beat Jets

Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading fiftieth objective of the season and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Winnipeg Jets 7-3 on Thursday evening.

Matthews scored Toronto’s sixth objective of the sport into an empty internet with 2:06 left in regulation. He moved previous Leon Draisaitl (49 objectives) of idle Edmonton for the league objective lead and have become the primary Maple Leafs participant to succeed in the milestone since Dave Andreychuk scored 53 in 1993-94.

“I don’t know if I ever actually envisioned it being an empty-netter objective, however I’ll take it,” Matthews stated. “I had some good possibilities tonight, simply didn’t go in.

“Happily that final one did.”

William Nylander had two power-play objectives and an help and Ilya Mikheyev scored short-handed and had a three-point sport. Mark Giordano added a objective and an help and John Tavares and Timothy Liljegren additionally scored Toronto, which obtained 20 saves from Erik Kallgren. Mitch Marner added three assists.

Nikolaj Ehlers had a objective and an help, Blake Wheeler and Paul Stastny additionally scored for Winnipeg. Eric Comrie stopped 31 pictures.

“We have to win video games,” Ehlers stated after Winnipeg blew an early 2-0 lead. “In addition to playoffs, that is the hardest time of the 12 months.”

Matthews joined Andreychuk, Rick Vaive (3 times) and Gary Leeman as the one Maple Leafs gamers to succeed in the half-century objective mark.

“Actually particular to have the ability to do it right here in entrance of all of the followers,” stated Matthews, whose workforce hits the highway for 4 straight beginning Saturday in Philadelphia. “The power, the environment and all that goes into it simply makes it way more enjoyable.”

Kallgren obtained the beginning with Petr Mrazek prone to be out at the very least six weeks along with his third groin harm of the season suffered in Tuesday’s 6-4 victory over Boston. No. 1 goalie Jack Campbell (rib ailment) has been cleared medically to renew motion for the primary time since March 8, however didn’t gown.

Trailing 2-1 after the primary interval, Toronto tied issues up 1:58 into the second when Nylander banged a Matthews’ rebound off the tip boards previous Comrie for his twenty fifth objective of the season.

Ehlers scored his twenty first — and seventh within the final 10 video games — on a Winnipeg energy play at 3:45 previous a screened Kallgren.

The Leafs obtained even at 3-all 23 seconds later when Tavares swatted his twenty third previous Comrie, who obtained the beginning rather than Connor Hellebuyck within the second of a back-to-back.

Nylander poked in his second of the sport and twenty sixth of the 12 months on one other man benefit at 8:40 because the Leafs’ top-ranked energy play related for Toronto’s first lead.

Mikheyev made it 5-3 when took a move from Pierre Engvall with the Leafs killing a penalty, settled the puck on his stick and scored his fifteenth at 13:55 for his workforce’s league-leading eleventh short-handed objective.

Winnipeg opened the scoring at 3:19 of the primary when Wheeler stepped round Giordano earlier than scoring his twelfth.

The Jets made it 2-0 at 7:45 when Stastny took a rebound off the tip boards and fooled Kallgren on a wraparound for his 18th.

Giordano made up for his earlier mistake on the Wheeler objective when his tried move pinged off two defenders for his seventh of the marketing campaign — and first as a Leaf at 15:03.

Matthews was twice robbed of fifty objectives by COVID-19. He discovered the again of the online 47 instances in 70 video games in 2019-20 earlier than the pandemic abruptly ended the common season earlier than placing up 41 in 52 contests over the course the 2020-21 coronavirus-shortened marketing campaign to win his first Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy because the NHL’s prime objective scorer.

Thursday was Matthews’ 62nd sport of the season — he missed three due to harm and two by way of suspension — whereas Draisaitl has suited up for every of Edmonton’s 68 contests.

UP NEXT

Winnipeg: Host Los Angeles Kings on Saturday to open a three-game homestand.

Toronto: At Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday within the begin of a four-game journey.