The Toronto Maple Leafs took a step closer to the locking up top spot in the North Division with a 5-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday. The Leafs victory coupled with the Edmonton Oilers loss to Vancouver gives Toronto an eight-point lead entering the final week of the regular season and a magic number of one with three games remaining.
Alex Galchenyuk, John Tavares, Pierre Engvall, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto, and Jack Campbell made 19 saves for his 16th victory of the season. With his goal, Matthews increased his lead for the Rocket Richard Trophy to nine goals over Connor McDavid and reached the 40-goal plateau for the second straight season and third time in his five-year career, but the 23-year-old reached the mark in 49 games, putting him in the same goal scoring neighborhood as names like Gretzky, Bossy, Lemieux, Jagr, Bure and Mogilny.
Auston Matthews extended his goal streak to five games (6-0—6) and became the first player in over 20 years to reach the 40-goal mark in 49 or fewer games. #NHLStatspic.twitter.com/D0C7WsS5sA
“When a player of Auston’s caliber comes (into training camp) and is, first of all, prepared for it, but secondly goes out on the ice and is leading the charge for our group in terms of work ethic and competitiveness, attention to detail, it was very clear that he was ready to bring his game to another level.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “That’s the caliber of player that he is, the caliber of person that he is and, again, just tremendous to see him get rewarded for that here. He’s not going to slow down, I have no doubts. He’s just going to keep pushing himself and our team to keep getting better here.”
Auston Matthews extended his goal streak to five games (6-0—6) and became the first player in over 20 years to reach the 40-goal mark in 49 or fewer games. #NHLStatspic.twitter.com/D0C7WsS5sA
The game was also record breaking for Campbell, who with the win moved to 16-2-2, eclipsing Hall of Famers George Hainsworth and Walter “Turk” Broda for the most wins in his first 20 starts.
The victory also increased the odds of a first round match between the Original Six rivals for the first time since 1979, since the Habs remain two points behind Winnipeg for third place in the North with the Jets having a game in hand.
The Leafs are 6-2-1 in nine games against the Habs and the two clubs finish up their season series on Saturday, but that may only be an appetizer of what is to come for the longtime rivals.
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