The Arizona prodigy got an assist on the game’s first goal. Matthews handed the puck to Mitch Marner who expertly set the table for Michael Bunting. The 26-year-old rookie ended a 17-game scoreless streak.
Matthews thus became the third player in Maple Leafs history to reach 100 points in a season. Only Darryl Sittler, in the 70s, and Doug Gilmour, in the 90s, have also achieved the feat in the blue and white uniform.
The Torontonians finished the first period with a 2-0 lead thanks to William Nylander beating Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov with a good slap shot from the front.
Washington got on the scoreboard for the first time midway through the second period thanks to a superb play from defenseman John Carlson.
Toronto was quick to respond, however. Ilya Lyubushkin scored his first goal in a Leafs uniform 13 seconds later with a slap shot from the point, then Nylander netted his second of the game 18 seconds past his teammate. He shoved a loose puck into the visitors’ goal and forced a goalie change for the Capitals.
This streak only launched the Maple Leafs. Ilya Mikheyev put the finishing touches on a fine Toronto collective forecheck four minutes later. Matthews also got another assist on the streak, his 101st point of the season.
Bunting, who was playing his 100th NHL game but is still considered a rookie by league standards, completed Toronto’s four-game push just moments later. He found the back of the net on a two-on-one with Pierre Engvall.
Tom Wilson added a goal for the Capitals before the end of the second period, but it didn’t affect the mood at Scotiabank Arena. Returning from the locker room, Mikheyev beat Vitek Vanecek.
Mikheyev became the third Maple Leafs player to score a brace in the game, a first for the Toronto team since Jan. 7, 2011 against the defunct Atlanta Thrashers.
That seventh goal also gave the Maple Leafs seven or more goals in a game for the sixth time this season, the most the team has had since 1998-99.
Toronto goaltender Jack Campbell allowed a goal to Capitals’ Nic Dowd with eight minutes left in the game. He finished the night with 22 saves on 25 shots.
Matthews isn’t the only Maple Leafs player to hit a major plateau in the game. With four assists, captain John Tavares reached the mark of 500 NHL career assists. Morgan Rielly also became the fifth defenseman in Maple Leafs history to record 300 assists with the Toronto team.
–
