Auston Matthews scored his 55th goal of the season Thursday to become the Toronto Maple Leafs’ all-time franchise leader before scoring his 56e in overtime to give the Leafs a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars.
Matthews broke former Leafs captain Rick Vaive’s record of scoring 54 times during the 1981-82 season. The 24-year-old set the mark in his 66th game of the season.
“I was so excited, there’s not much more to say than that,” Matthews said following the game of his record goal.
“Giordano gave me a nice pass, directly into my shooting range. I just tried to attack the puck. There were a lot of things going through my mind. »
Matthews leads the league in goals ahead of Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, who is second with 50 goals this season.
“We’re very happy for Auston,” defenseman Morgan Rielly said. “She’s a beautiful person. He leads his life the right way, he leads us the right way. He is a good leader and he remains humble. He works hard and he deserves it. That’s nice to look at. »
Selected first overall in the 2016 NHL Draft by the Leafs, Matthews won the Rocket Richard Trophy for the first time last season, scoring 41 goals.
Prior to this year, his career goals high was 47 which he accomplished in the 2019-20 campaign.
William Nylander and Morgan Rielly scored Toronto’s other two goals. The Stars’ line came from Tyler Seguin, John Klingberg and Joe Pavelski. The Leafs outscored the Landers 41-18, but a tough outing from Jack Campbell gave his former team an important point in the fight for the final playoff spot in the West.
A new personal brand for McDavid
Connor McDavid broke his personal mark by scoring a 42nd goal in a season and became the seventh player in franchise history to post two 15-game point streaks in a campaign as the Edmonton Oilers edged the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Thursday.
McDavid, who also had an assist, sits atop the NHL scoring charts with 109 points. Evan Bouchard had one goal and one assist for the Oilers, who have won their last six games.
Warren Foegele also scored for the Oilers and Mike Smith stopped 30 shots.
Trevor Moore scored a goal and set up Viktor Arvidsson’s in the Kings’ loss. Jonathan Quick made 27 saves.
The Hurricanes confirm their place in the playoffs
Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal each scored twice as the Carolina Hurricanes rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Buffalo Sabers 5-3 to confirm their playoff spot on Thursday.
The Hurricanes reached 100 points (46-17-8) for only the second time in team history. They still have 11 games to play on the schedule.
Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Hurricanes. Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis had two assists. Antti Raanta stopped 18 shots in the win.
Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Victor Olofsson scored for the Sabers, who lost only the second time in regulation in their last 11 games. Former Hurricanes star Jeff Skinner set up the Sabers’ first two goals. Craig Anderson made 27 saves.
A 1st in 3 years for Connauton
Kevin Connauton, Owen Tippett and Noah Cates all scored in the second period for the Philadelphia Flyers to give them a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Travis Konecny also scored in the third period for the Flyers, who won their second straight road game. Martin Jones stopped 26 shots while Kevin Hayes had two assists.
Eric Robinson scored the lone goal for the Blue Jackets, who have lost eight of their last nine games. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 27 shots.
Grubauer and the Kraken shut out the Blackhawks
Philipp Grubauer made 29 saves for his second shutout of the season and the Seattle Kraken blanked the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 on Thursday.
Alex Wennberg and Jordan Eberle scored for the Kraken.
Grubauer was little tested by the Blackhawks, who lost a sixth straight game (0-4-2).
Kevin Lankinen stopped 29 shots in the loss.
Prior to the start of the game, the Blackhawks announced that they will retire Marian Hossa’s number 81 next season. He signed a one-day contract with the Illinois team to step down as a member of the Blackhawks.
Hossa played the last eight seasons of his 19-year career with the Blackhawks and was an important cog in the Stanley Cup victories of 2010, 2013 and 2015.
Chiasson and Horvat take care of the Coyotes
Alex Chiasson and Bo Horvat each had two goals and an assist as the Vancouver Canucks continued their push for a playoff berth with a 5-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.
Elias Pettersson scored one goal and aided in two more for the Canucks, who have won their last two games.
The Canucks have 78 points, six behind the Dallas Stars, who sit last in the playoffs. The Stars have 12 games left to play, two more than the Canucks.
Jaroslav Halak stopped 28 shots in the win.
Nick Schmaltz scored for the Coyotes, who have lost nine of their last 11 games.
Harri Sateri stopped 27 shots in his first game with the Coyotes and his first since February 9, 2018 on the Bettman circuit. He was claimed off waivers on March 21 from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Elias Lindholm scored twice, Matthew Tkachuk added a goal and two assists to help the Calgary Flames beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Thursday night.
Trevor Lewis also scored for Calgary, which won a third straight game. Dan Vladar made 31 saves for his 10th victory.
Nick Bonino and Logan Couture scored for San Jose, which lost its fifth straight game. James Reimer made 32 saves before coming off injured in the third period following a collision with Couture in the slot. He was able to skate on his own. Kaapo Kahkonen stopped all five shots he faced in relief.
Tkachuk opened the scoring for Calgary at 7:19 of the first period with his 33rd goal of the season.
Bonino responded with his 10th just over seven minutes later, but Lewis put the Flames back ahead with his fifth of the season in the final minute of the first period.
Lindholm made it 3-1 with six and a half minutes left in the second period in his 37th of the year, a Flames high. Couture scored his 23rd power-play goal at 5:24 of the third to bring the Sharks to within one goal.
Lindholm added his 38th in an empty net in the last minute to secure the win.
