Matthews scores 50th goal of season in Maple Leafs win against Jets

TORONTO-- Auston Matthews scored his
50th goal of the season
for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 7-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.

Matthews scored into an empty net with 2:06 remaining in the third period to make it 6-3.
"It means a lot," Matthews said. "It was pretty special just to do it at home as well. The energy and the atmosphere tonight was pretty special. Like I've said before, I'm really fortunate to play with some pretty amazing players and some pretty good teams throughout these six years."
The center leads the NHL by one goal over Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl.
"I just try to stay present, try to do my thing, and maybe when I'm done playing I can think about [my legacy]," Matthews said. "Right now, obviously, I have a job to do and it's not finished yet."

William Nylander scored twice, Ilya Mikheyev had a goal and two assists, and Erik Kallgren made 20 saves for the Maple Leafs (43-19-5), who have won three in a row. Toronto leads the Tampa Bay Lightning by one point for second place in the Atlantic Division.
"We had a lot of clock left (after going down 2-0) to find ourselves," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "We didn't start well, not even close to the same level of intensity and speed that we had played with here over the last three games prior to tonight. That was disappointing and we paid for it."
Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist, and Eric Comrie made 31 saves for the Jets (33-26-10), who defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in a shootout Wednesday. Winnipeg trails the Vegas Golden Knights by two points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"We didn't surprise ourselves (with our start), we've had some really bad starts in the last few games, there's no secret in that," Ehlers said. "We went out there with a plan today and it worked, so that's something we have to continue doing but also keep that for the full 60 (minutes).
"We're in a spot right now where we need to win games, and obviously besides playoffs, this is the toughest part of the year and wins are not easy to get. We need to continue grinding. There's got to be some belief in winning games because we have the team to do it."

Ehlers gave the Jets a 3-2 lead at 3:45 of the second period on the power play from the right face-off dot.
John Tavares tied it 3-3 at 4:08 on a rebound from Carl Dahlstrom's shot.
Nylander gave the Maple Leafs a 4-3 lead at 8:40 when he jammed in a rebound at the top of the crease after Mitchell Marner's shot from the left corner.
Mikheyev made it 5-3 at 13:55 on a shorthanded breakaway. It was his first three-point game in the NHL (131 games).
"We played good in the first but we were cooked the rest of the game," Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. "Second period, I think we just didn't have anything. We tried to push a little bit in the third but just couldn't get one to go early. First was great, second I think we were just tired."
Timothy Liljegren made it 7-3 with a power-play goal at 18:14.
Wheeler put Winnipeg up 1-0 at 3:19 of the first period when he got past Mark Giordano in the slot. Paul Stastny made it 2-0 at 7:45 with a wraparound by Kallgren's left pad with the goalie looking to his right.
Giordano got Toronto within 2-1 at 15:03 when his shot from the left face-off dot went off Jets defensemen Logan Stanley and Brenden Dillon. It was his first goal in his fifth game with the Maple Leafs after being traded by the Seattle Kraken on March 20.
"It felt pretty good," Giordano said. "It was Johnny (Tavares) going backdoor there and I was trying to hit him, but I'll take that bounce, I'll tell you that much, so it was nice to see it go in. I thought individually I wasn't very good to start the game, so I felt like that really helped me get going and move on from a couple of mistakes."

Nylander tied it 2-2 at 1:58 of the second period on the power play when he put in a rebound off the end boards from Matthews' point shot.
Matthews is the fourth Maple Leafs player to score 50 goals in a season, joining Rick Vaive, Gary Leeman and Dave Andreychuk. Vaive holds the Toronto record with 54 in 1981-82.
"It was pretty unreal (to feel the atmosphere when Matthews scored)," Nylander said. "It actually reminded me of when I was younger and my dad (Michael Nylander) was playing [for the Washington Capitals] and [Alex] Ovechkin scored 50 one night when I was there. I think it was the night where he [warmed his hands on his stick]. It brought back some memories, but it's just incredible. Well deserved."
NOTES: Matthews scored 50 goals for the first time in the NHL. He is the 10th United States-born player, first since John LeClair in 1997-98 (Philadelphia Flyers). Matthews did so in 62 games, the fewest in 26 years. In 1995-96, Mario Lemieux did so in 50 games (Pittsburgh Penguins), Jaromir Jagr in 59 (Penguins), Alexander Mogilny in 60 (Vancouver Canucks) and Peter Bondra in 62 (Washington Capitals). ... Maple Leafs goalie Petr Mrazek is out at least six weeks after he sustained a groin injury in a 6-4 win against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.