Matthews has goal, assist for Maple Leafs in victory against Senators

OTTAWA -- Auston Matthews scored his 42nd goal to move into a tie for the NHL lead, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-2 at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

"What was important was trying to get out to a lead quick," Matthews said. "Just trying to build off that. ... We just stuck with it, even when they made a push. We played back in their end and had some chances."
Jake Muzzin and William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs (31-20-8), who are 2-1-1 in their past four games and 3-3-1 in their past seven.
WATCH: [All Maple Leafs vs. Senators highlights]
Jack Campbell made 25 saves to improve to 3-0-1 since being acquired in a trade from the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 5.
"[Campbell] was great for us," Matthews said. "He made some huge saves. You just see him in there, he's having so much fun. He just loves to compete, loves to battle for the guys, and he came up with some big saves."

Cody Goloubef scored his first NHL goal in more than four years for the Senators (19-28-11), who are 1-5-2 in their past eight games.
"A lot of positives to take out of that game," said Ottawa forward Connor Brown, who scored in the second period. "I think we had our fair share of chances to win that thing. Obviously, they're a talented team, they put pucks away when they have their chances. But for the most part, we're going in the right direction from a team identity point of view and from a work ethic point of view."
Craig Anderson made the save on all 14 shots he faced in relief of Marcus Hogberg, who allowed three goals on 16 shots.

"I don't think it's on [Hogberg] at all," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "I just think pucks found their way in, a couple of bad bounces, and I just thought it was a time to change the momentum for us, more than it was a pull because he didn't have it going."
Matthews beat Hogberg five-hole from below the left face-off circle to give the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 4:11 of the first period.
Matthews is tied for the NHL goals lead with Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak, who scored earlier in the day in Boston's 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings.
Muzzin scored with a wrist shot from the point through traffic to make it 2-0 at 1:53 of the second.
Toronto defenseman Timothy Liljegren got his first NHL point with an assist on Muzzin's goal.
"I see a guy that's playing with a lot of confidence," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said of Lilegren, who played his sixth NHL game. "And I can see that with each game, (assistant) Dave Hakstol is getting more confident in putting him on the ice."
Nylander tipped a John Tavares shot to make it 3-0 at 11:48.

Brown one-timed a cross-ice pass from Vladislav Namestnikov into an open net to cut it to 3-1 at 16:13.
Goloubef scored with a wrist shot from the left half-wall to get the Senators within 3-2 at 9:44 of the third period. It was his first goal since Nov. 17, 2015, for the Columbus Blue Jackets, ending an 87-game drought.
"I think that's just a testament to who we are," Goloubef said of Ottawa's comeback. "Just try and stay with it no matter what the score. This league's funny; you get one bounce, you get two bounces, and the momentum starts swinging your way, so you can never give up."

Mitchell Marner lobbed a shot from the Maple Leafs zone for an empty-net goal to make it 4-2 at 18:46 after Matthews tapped the puck to him.
"Three or four of our best chances of the game come in the third period there," Keefe said. "We could've really blown the game open, but their goalie made a bunch of saves and let them hang around. ... Luckily, we got the bounce to go our way on the empty net, which I think we earned that bounce through our play in the third."

They said it

"[Jake Muzzin] is the man. He's such a leader and brings it every night. I was so upset when we traded him in L.A. ... I just missed him. He just adds a great element to this really solid team, and we've just got to keep it going." -- Maple Leafs goalie Jack Campbell on his teammate with the Kings
"He's been a great soldier. He's worked hard every day. He's kept a great attitude when he goes through long stretches of not playing. I thought he gave us good shifts for the ones he had tonight." -- Senators coach D.J. Smith on defenseman Cody Goloubef

Need to know

Matthews reached 70 points in 59 games, the fastest by a Maple Leafs player since Mats Sundin in 1996-97 (57 games). He has 71 points, two shy of his NHL career high (73 in 68 games last season). ... Tavares has five goals and five assists during a seven-game point streak. ... Senators forward Anthony Duclair has gone 20 games without a goal.

What's next

Maple Leafs: At the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN, MSG-B, NHL.TV)
Senators: Host the Dallas Stars on Sunday (6 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN5, FS-SW, NHL.TV)