TORONTO Sheldon Keefe saw a different Auston Matthews back in January.
Creating offence had never been a problem for the Maple Leafs star sniper. It was everything else about the 23-year-old s game during a tough training camp that stood out to Toronto s head coach. He s come in, I think, on a mission, Keefe said. He s put in such great work defensively away from the puck that you want to see him reach the goals he has for himself. And they re lofty goals, but clearly he keeps setting the bar even higher.
That continued on a milestone Thursday night.
Matthews scored for a league-leading 40th time in just his 49th game as the North Division-topping Leafs jump on Montreal early in a 5-2 victory over the Canadiens.
Newly paired Rask, Fiala click when Wild needs a spark
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Bo Horvat dominant as Vancouver Canucks earn OT win over Toronto Maple Leafs in return from COVID
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) â Bo Harvat scored his second goal of the game 1:19 into overtime, giving the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night in their return from a nearly four-week layoff because of a COVID-19 outbreak.
Horvat also had an assist, Nils Hoglander had a goal and an assist, and Braden Holtby made 37 saves as the Canucks played their first game since March 24. At least 21 players and four members of the coaching staff tested positive for the coronavirus and Vancouver had 11 games postponed since the outbreak hit late last month.
No Canucks players remained on the NHLâs COVID-19 protocol list Sunday, but some of Vancouverâs regular starters remained out of the lineup, including goalie Thatcher Demko, defenseman Nate Schmidt and forwards Tyler Motte and Jake Virtanen.
The Leafs remain atop the all-Canadian North Division and hold a 4-2 edge in the season series with three games to go.
The Canucks suffered the NHL’s worst COVID-19 outbreak when the P. 1 variant of the virus swept through the team late last month.
Twenty-one players and four coaches tested positive for the virus, one other player was deemed a close contact, and another received a false positive result. Family members including one player’s pregnant wife also fell ill.
No Canucks players remained on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list Sunday. Nineteen were on the list at the height of the outbreak.