Matthews returns to lift Leafs past Sharks
TORONTO — Auston Matthews says the last month has been torture watching his Toronto Maple Leafs.
The team’s star centre jumped right back in the action without missing a beat Wednesday.
Matthews had two goals and an assist in his return to the lineup after missing 14 games with a shoulder injury as the Leafs defeated the San Jose Sharks 5-3 for their third straight victory.
“It kind of just eats away at you,” Matthews said of his time on the shelf. “Watching what we’ve been able to do the last month, we’ve played pretty exceptional at times.”
The 21-year-old was exceptional himself early with a goal and an assist on two power plays before adding the exclamation point on a third-period deflection as Toronto pulled even with the surprising Buffalo Sabres atop the NHL’s overall standings.
In between, however, Matthews didn’t think he was all that impressive in his first game back playing on a line with speedsters Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson.
“After the first I felt terrible,” Matthews said. “The second period, I didn’t feel too good and then in the third period I got my legs.”
John Tavares, with two, and Patrick Marleau also scored for Toronto (18-8-0), while Mitch Marner added three assists as the Leafs went 3-for-4 on the power play against the league’s best penalty-killing unit.
Frederik Andersen made 38 saves to improve to 8-2-0 over his last 10 starts.
Tomas Hertl, Joe Pavelski and Melker Karlsson replied for San Jose (12-9-5), which dropped to 1-2-2 over its last five.
“I don’t think we’re close,” said Sharks centre Logan Couture, who set up two goals. “We show spurts and signs that we’re capable [of playing with the best in the league], but we haven’t put together an effort against a top-quality team.”
Aaron Dell made 24 stops as No. 1 goalie Martin Jones got the night off following the Sharks’ 3-2 overtime loss to Buffalo on Tuesday.
“You’re not going to win on the road giving up two power-play goals, [let alone] three,” San Jose head coach Peter DeBoer said. “Our attention to detail on the penalty kill is as good as anybody in the league. “It wasn’t tonight.” Matthews suffered the shoulder injury after taking a clean hit early in the Leafs’ 3-2 victory over the Jets on Oct. 27. He stormed out of the gate with 10 goals and six assists through seven games this season, but was held off the scoresheet in three consecutive outings before getting hurt.
The Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year in 2016-17, Matthews was sidelined a total of 20 games last season thanks to three separate injuries, including the same problem with his right shoulder.
Matthews made an immediate impact Wednesday, taking a pass from Marner and finding Tavares at the edge of the crease on a power play for his 16th goal of the season at 3:38.
San Jose got that one back at 10:40 when Hertl banged the puck past Andersen on a Sharks’ man advantage.