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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. It means a lot, Matthews said of reaching 40 goals for the third time in his five NHL seasons. It s a team sport, so there s a lot that goes into it.
Frank Mahovlich is the only player in franchise history to score 40 goals in fewer games, hitting the mark in 48 contests in 1960-61. Matthews, who tallied 47 in 70 games before the 2019-20 campaign was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic, required the fewest games to hit 40 goals since Pavel Bure reached the number in 48 outings back in 1999-00 with the Florida Panthers.
Joshua Clipperton
Toronto Maple Leafs centre John Tavares (91) celebrates his goal with teammate Alex Galchenyuk (12) as Montreal Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau (30) looks on during first-period NHL hockey action in Toronto, Thursday, May 6, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn May 06, 2021 - 8:29 PM
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.
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.
Canadiens regain footing in tight North Division race with win over Jets
The Montreal Canadiens scored four unanswered goals to beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-3.
Eric Engels | @EricEngels April 30, 2021, 11:36 PM
MONTREAL This is what the Montreal Canadiens needed a resilient and galvanizing win that got them six points clear of the Calgary Flames and four points back of the team they beat at the Bell Centre on Friday.
Because, lately, everything has conspired against the Canadiens achieving that outcome, from the mentally- and physically-taxing schedule to the injuries to key players forcing them to just “manage the game,” as coach Dominique Ducharme put it after Wednesday’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, instead of just going out and grabbing it by the throat.