Auston Matthews had two goals and an assist, and Morgan Rielly and Mitch Marner each added a goal and an assist to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 6-3 victory over Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night in Las Vegas.
Matthews collected his 100th and 101st career goals to become the second member of the 2016 NHL Draft class to hit the century mark, joining Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine (105). Laine was selected second behind Matthews in that draft.
Andreas Johnsson and Patrick Marleau also scored goals while Jake Muzzin and Kasperi Kapanen each added two assists for Toronto, which won for the sixth time in seven games while also improving to 19-7-2 on the road. Frederik Andersen finished with 30 saves to garner his 27th victory of the season.
William Karlsson, Paul Stastny and Oscar Lindberg scored goals for Vegas, which fell to 2-7-0 in its past nine games while losing a franchise-record fifth consecutive home game. Marc-Andre Fleury, who allowed a season-high six goals, finished with 37 saves.
Johnsson gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead in the first period with a power-play goal, redirecting Jake Gardiner’s shot from the right point past Fleury’s glove side for his 15th of the season. It marked the fifth straight game that Vegas allowed a power-play goal.
The Golden Knights bounced back to take a 2-1 lead early in the second period. Stastny got the first with a short-handed goal off a pass from Reilly Smith, who intercepted a pass by Andersen behind his goal and then found Stastny cutting to the goal. Stastny then buried a one-timer.
Lindberg followed with his third goal of the season from the edge of the left circle off a nice drop pass by Cody Eakin.
Toronto tied it just 90 seconds later. Marleau tapped in a rebound of a Matthews shot from the left side of the net that bounced in off the back of Fleury’s skate and into the net.
Matthews then gave Toronto a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal, firing a wrist shot from the left circle that went through the legs of defenseman Deryk Engelland and then through the pads of a screened Fleury for his 100th career goal and 26th of the season.
After Karlsson tied it again early in the third period with his 18th goal of the season, Rielly then put Toronto back in front for good, 4-3, with his 15th goal of the season, tops among all NHL defenseman. He fired a long wrist shot from inside the blue line past a Zach Hyman screen, and the puck went in on Fleury’s blocker side.
Matthews followed 55 seconds with his second of the game, spinning in the slot and firing a wrist shot over Fleury’s right shoulder. Marner then sealed the win with a short-handed goal, his 21st tally of the season, at 16:33.
Canucks rally late, earn shootout win over Kings
Brock Boeser scored the deciding goal in a shootout Thursday, following his goal in the second period, as the visiting Vancouver Canucks rallied late to earn a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Canucks rookie Adam Gaudette scored with 1:38 remaining in regulation to tie the score 3-3. After Kings defenseman Drew Doughty gloved the puck and dropped it to the ice in the Los Angeles zone, Gaudette picked it up and scored his fourth goal of the season.
Alec Martinez gave the Kings a 3-2 lead at 10:59 of the third period when his fluttering shot from the blue line rebounded off the stick of goaltender Jacob Markstrom and then off the left post for the defenseman’s fourth of the season.The Canucks won for the third time in eight games since their All-Star break. The Kings dropped their first home game following a 10-day road trip. They last played at home Jan. 21, just before their own All-Star break.
Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates after scoring a third-period goal against the Vegas Golden Knights during their NHL game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Getty Images/AFP)
