Matthews hits 68 goals but not enough for Leafs
Auston Matthews inched ever closer to an audacious goal-scoring milestone.
The Maple Leafs sniper also grabbed another franchise record and passed a club icon in the process. Toronto, however, is now all but assured of starting the Stanley Cup playoffs on the road.
Jesper Bratt scored his second goal of the game with 1:14 left in regulation Thursday as the New Jersey Devils downed the Leafs 6-5 on a night where Matthews bagged two more goals for a league-topping 68 on the season.
“A little sloppy at times,” the star centre said of the overall performance after getting to nine goals in his last seven contests. “Didn’t seem like we were as dialed in as we should have been.”
Timo Meier, with two goals and an assist, Erik Haula and Nolan Foote provided the rest of the offence for New Jersey (38-37-5). Jake Allen made 27 saves for the Devils, who are playing for pride and jobs in 2024-25 after being eliminated from post-season contention. Luke Hughes had two assists.
“Showed how strong of a team effort we can put in,” said Bratt, who added an assist for a three-point effort.
John Tavares, with two, and David Kampf had the other goals for Toronto (46-24-9). Ilya Samsonov made 14 saves. Max Domi and Mitch Marner chipped in two assists each. William Nylander played the 600th regular-season appearance.
The Leafs now sit five points back of the Florida Panthers for second in the Atlantic Division with three games left on the schedule. Florida has two games remaining, including Tuesday at home against Toronto. The Panthers also trail Boston by a point, but the Bruins have three dates left on their schedule.
Looking to become the first player to reach 70 goals in more than three decades, Matthews’ current total is the most in the NHL since Mario Lemieux’s 69 in 1995-96.
“Remarkable,” Tavares said. “It’s really special.”
But tied 4-4 through two periods, Matthews took a tripping penalty in the third and the Devils capitalized when Bratt beat Samsonov with this 26th at 11:03.
Tavares got things back level with 4:47 left in regulation when he buried his second of the evening — and 26th of the campaign — off a Morgan Rielly setup.
But the Devils responded with 74 seconds remaining when Bratt snapped his 27th off the rush.
Down 3-2 after a wild and sloppy first, Matthews scored his second of the evening and 68th of the campaign at 7:59 before chants of “M-V-P!” rained down from the Scotiabank Arena stands.
The goal was the sniper’s 274th all-time at even strength to pass Mats Sundin for top spot in franchise history.
Jets 3, Stars 0
DALLAS — Laurent Brossoit stopped 24 shots for his third shutout in his past five starts, David Gustafsson scored on his 24th birthday and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 on Thursday night.
The Jets won their fifth consecutive game coming off a six-game winless streak and prevented the Stars from clinching the Central Division title.
Instead, Winnipeg avoided a season sweep by Dallas and matched Colorado in second place with 104 points, five behind the Stars.