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Auston Matthews scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Saturday. The win ended a two-game losing streak for Toronto and closed out a four-game road trip with a record of two wins and two losses.
Leafs Build Early Lead
William Nylander opened the scoring just 83 seconds into the first period. He scooped up a puck that deflected off Canucks defenceman Jamie Oleksiak’s stick, skated in alone and lifted a backhand past goaltender Leevi Merilainen. However, Brock Boeser tied the game roughly nine minutes later on the power play. He took a long pass from defenceman Filip Hronek and beat Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz.
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Matthews then gave Toronto a 2-1 lead at 3:47 of the second period. He beat Merilainen on the short side after a sharp back-and-forth passing exchange with defenceman Darren Raddysh. Zack MacEwen extended the lead to two goals at 12:34, as his shot from just inside the blue line deflected off Merilainen’s glove, struck defenceman Luke Schenn on the back and rolled into the net.
Canucks Unable to Complete Comeback
Max Sasson made things interesting early in the third period. He scored off a rebound from a Brendan Gallagher shot, pulling Vancouver to within one goal. However, Toronto held on, and Teddy Blueger sealed the result with an empty-net goal. Stolarz earned an assist on that play and finished with 26 saves. Merilainen stopped 24 shots for Vancouver.
Nylander and Blueger each finished with a goal and an assist. Matthews now has points in six of his last seven games, recording five goals and five assists in that span. Meanwhile, Jack Roslovic picked up an assist on the Matthews goal, extending his own points streak to six games with three goals and seven assists.
Notable Returns and Lineup News
Former Canuck defenceman Chris Tanev returned to the Leafs lineup after missing nine games with an upper-body injury. Forward Dakota Joshua also returned, playing his first game of the season after recovering from a core injury. In addition, Blueger played his first game in Vancouver since signing a two-year deal with Toronto. He previously spent three seasons with the Canucks.
For Vancouver, centre Filip Chytil moved to injured reserve after aggravating a shoulder injury. As a result, the Canucks recalled centre Jacob Quillan from Abbotsford of the AHL on Friday. Quillan, acquired from Toronto on October 15, stepped into the lineup. Canucks star Elias Pettersson also saw his six-game point streak come to an end. Toronto improved to 8-6-2 on the season, while Vancouver fell to 3-12-1 with just one win in their last 13 games.
Next up, the Maple Leafs host the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday. The Canucks also play at home Tuesday, welcoming the Anaheim Ducks.
