Auston Matthews scored 30th goal of season as Toronto Maple Leafs surged back for a dramatic comeback victory against Anaheim Ducks 2-1 overtime win on Wednesday night.
At 2:12 of overtime, he converted Mitchell Marner’s pass and scored his team’s inaugural extra-session goal of the season.
Maple Leafs Matthew Scores in OT
Matthews capitalized on a power-play rebound at 2:12 of overtime to score his league-leading 30th goal this season and lead his Leafs to their second win of their California road trip.
At 25-years-old, scoring an extra period goal was both satisfying and essential to his team’s victory.
Lukas Dostal made an impressionful statement early in the game by denying Matthew Knies on a partial breakaway and making several saves in an impressive first period. Ilya Lyubushkin stood out by blocking an attempt by Matthews before it had even crossed the goalline.
Frank Vatrano scored for the Ducks, who dropped to 1-5-0 during an eight-game homestand and suffered their third consecutive defeat.
Tavares Scores in Regulation
John Tavares ended Lukas Dostal’s bid for a shutout on the Maple Leafs’ 50th shot of the game, pouncing on a loose puck after Morgan Rielly blocked an attempt that Dostal stopped.
After an scoreless first period, the Maple Leafs appeared to take Anaheim for granted as they controlled the offensive zone with 18 shots on goal against struggling Dostal and nearly completely controlled high-danger chances.
At 14:17 of the third period, Toronto finally scored on their power play when Tavares roofed a shot from low slot over Ilya Sorokin from Mitchell Marner’s bumper pass – marking Matthews as Toronto’s first 30-goal scorer this season and tying Tony Amonte for fourth most 30-goal seasons among U.S-born players (five games with at least one goal each). His goal also marked his fifth consecutive game with at least one point.
Ducks Score in the Third Period
Matthews scored his 30th goal of the season and passed Frank Mahovlich for fifth most 30-goal seasons by US-born players; this feat also tied him with Joe Mullin as starting an NHL career.
After Anaheim failed to take advantage of a 3-on-2 power play, Toronto responded quickly. Matthews set up Marner for an easy one-timer goal.
With less than three minutes remaining in the second period, Matthews doubled the Maple Leafs lead after scoring on a shorthanded rebound. Jakob Silfverberg then scored on a 3-on-1 rush as Anaheim dropped its third consecutive game and dropped to 1-5-0 during their season-high eight-game homestand.
Sparks was key in keeping the Maple Leafs close in the third period, making key stops like a pad save on Patric Hornqvist deflection and glove stop on Tanner Pearson’s hard shot from just inside the blue line.
Jones Makes 27 Saves
Toronto won its second straight California road game thanks to an iconic goal by Matthews from the top of the face-off circle – it marked his fourth multi-point game this season and 30 goals overall; an achievement unmatched since Frank Mahovlich scored 30 in 1960-61.
Tavares began scoring early in the first period when William Nylander broke through the Rangers defense to feed Matthews for an uncontested one-timer. With less than six minutes remaining in regulation time, Tavares tied it when he fired Mitchell Marner pass over Lukas Dostal’s right shoulder to tie up a game that would end 2-2.
Martin Jones stopped 27 shots for Toronto as they recorded another impressive showing against Anaheim on Tuesday, earning another shutout victory with a 2-0 scoreline to improve to 6-3-0 overall with two shutouts and 2.20 goals against average over 10 appearances this season. Their back-to-back set concludes against San Jose on Saturday.
