Despite his troubles in the playoffs, Auston Matthews cemented his place as one of the greatest players in Toronto Maple Leafs history when he lost 6-5 to the St. Louis Blues at the Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
In his 445th career game at the Bettman Circuit, the American center had his 500th and 501st points. In doing so, he became the fastest Leafs player to reach this milestone in the organization’s history.
Matthews first got an assist on William Nylander’s goal in the second half, then he threaded the needle himself to make it 5-4.
The number 34 also scored on penalties, as did team-mate Mitchell Marner. However, the Blues had the upper hand as Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich and Brayden Schenn won their duel against Ilya Samsonov.
Michael Bunting, who according to the TSN network would have taken up preliminary talks with Kyle Dubas regarding a contract extension, shone in the defeat with two goals. Notably, he forced an overtime hold by touching the target on the power play.
Brandon Saad also scored two goals, but for the other side. Schenn, Jordan Kyrou and Josh Leivo completed the goal for the visitors.
Pierre Engvall opened the gate for the Maple Leafs.
Coyotes can’t help CH
At Sunrise, the Arizona Coyotes met an in-form Matthew Tkachuk and lost 3-5 to the Florida Panthers.
Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes had to watch this duel closely as he holds the Panthers’ first-round pick. In addition, the Coyotes in Switzerland represent one of the biggest competitors for the lottery of the repechage of the National Hockey League.
However, the eldest of the Tkachuk brothers did not grant the Habs’ wish. Instead, he completed a hat-trick against the Desert team, who had leveled a 2-0 deficit.
Jakob Chychrun, Clayton Keller and Nick Bjugstad shot through red to make it 3-3 in the first half, but the “Yotes” never hit Spencer Knight again.
Former CH Eric Staal scored twice for the Panthers. His brother Marc was also involved in his first success.
Thompson has the upper hand on “Ovi.”
In Washington, Alexander Ovechkin continued his great scoring streak twice, but the Capitals lost 4-5 to the Buffalo Sabers on the brilliance of Tage Thompson.
The giant player completed his hat-trick in extra time and reached the 30-goal plateau. He also collected an assist in the first half on goal from Alex Tuch.
Meanwhile, Ovechkin shook the ropes in the second and third sets. He came within 88 goals of Wayne Gretzky (894), making him the top scorer in league history.