Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Collects two power-play assists
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Matthews registered two power-play assists in Toronto's 3-2 victory over the Predators on Sunday.
It was Matthews' third consecutive multi-point game and his fourth in the span of five contests. Although he's likely to fall well below his 2021-22 finish of 60 goals and 106 points, he's nevertheless produced at a high level this season with 36 goals and 77 points in 66 appearances. One category in which Matthews might be able to set a career high is power-play points. He's up to 25 in 2022-23, which is just four away from his personal best.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Scores twice in loss
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Matthews scored two goals on 15 shots in the Maple Leafs' 5-3 loss to the Hurricanes on Saturday.
Matthews continued his hot play, scoring twice while firing 15 shots on goal at Pyotr Kochetkov. This performance extends Matthews' point streak to five games, and he has eight points in that span. On the season, Matthews has 36 goals and 75 points in 65 games.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Four-game, six-point streak
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Matthews scored twice, including the game winner, in a 6-2 victory over Florida on Thursday.
Matthews opened the scoring early in the first when he took a pass from Mitch Marner and wired a rocket from above the left face-off circle past Sergei Bobrovsky. He made it 3-1 in the second when he took a pass behind the net, skated out in front and lasered a puck past Bob's glove. Matthews is on a four-game, six-point streak (three goals, three assists), and he has points in 10 of his last 12 games (eight goals, eight assists).
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Likes his apples
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Matthews set up two goals Saturday in a 5-4 shootout win over Ottawa.
Both apples came on beautiful feeds to Calle Jarnkrok. The first was a one-timer from the slot side of the right circle, and the second set up a breakaway. Matthews also scored early in the shootout, but his goal was matched, and the sudden-death round went nine-rounds before it was settled.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Grabs three more points
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Matthews logged a goal and two assists in Monday's 4-3 loss to the Sabres.
Matthews broke a scoreless tie early in the second period, poking a rebound past Craig Anderson. He'd add an assist on Calle Jarnkrok's tally later in the frame before setting up William Nylander in the third. Matthews now has points in three straight games and 10 (five goals, five assists) in his last seven contests. The 25-year-old center is up to 31 goals and 36 assists through 59 games this season.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Nets two points
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Matthews scored a goal and an assist on eight shots, helping the Maple Leafs to a 7-4 victory over the Oilers on Saturday.
Matthews scored a power-play goal in the third period to extend the Maple Leafs' lead to 6-3. He also assisted on John Tavares' first goal. This performance gives Matthews goals in back-to-back games, with three points in that span. On the season, Matthews has 30 goals and 64 points in 58 games.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Scores game-winning goal
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Matthews scored a goal on four shots, helping the Maple Leafs to a 4-3 victory over the Devils on Tuesday.
Matthews scored the game-winning goal on the power play off a shot from the slot that beat Vitek Vanecek. The American forward has been heating up as of late, scoring three goals and five points in his last five games. On the season, Matthews has 29 goals and 62 points in 57 games.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Returns to game after puck to knee
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Matthews returned to Saturday's game against Vancouver six minutes into the second period. He took a slap shot off the inside of his right knee late in the first period that sent him to the dressing room.
The shot, which hit him in a spot where there are few to no pads, left Matthews unable to stand for a few minutes. It's good to see him back on the ice, but he could need some recovery time once the bruising sets in.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Exits after blocking shot
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Matthews left Saturday's game against the Canucks late in the first after taking a slap shot off the inside of his right knee.
Noah Juulsen wound up at the top of the right circle and Matthews turned into the path of the puck. It hit him right where he tapes his shin pads. He was unable to stand and the play was blown dead, but eventually, he was able to get off the ice without the help of the trainer. Matthews would be a huge loss to the Leafs and fantasy managers if he is unable to return.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Scores twice in Seattle
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Matthews scored a pair of goals on five shots in Sunday's 5-1 win over the Kraken.
Matthews had been in a three-game funk, his longest healthy drought of the season. The 25-year-old chased Philipp Grubauer with a goal in the second period and added another against Martin Jones in the third. Matthews is up to 28 goals, 59 points, 218 shots on net, 75 blocked shots, 65 hits and a plus-24 rating through 53 contests this season. The success of the John Tavares-Ryan O'Reilly-William Nylander line has taken some of the pressure off of Matthews to be the leading force in Toronto's offense, though games like this one prove he can do it himself as well.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Second two-point game in row
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Matthews delivered two assists Saturday in a 5-1 win over the Canadiens.
One assist came on the power play and the other at even strength. Both were primary assists. Matthews has put up consecutive two-point games (one goal, three assists) since his return from a knee injury. He has 57 points, including 26 goals, in 49 games this season.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Gets two points in return
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Matthews (knee) provided a goal and an assist in Toronto's 5-2 victory over Chicago on Wednesday.
Matthews' marker at 11:21 of the first period proved to be the game-winner. He improved to 26 goals and 55 points in 48 contests in 2022-23. The 25-year-old missed Toronto's previous five games because of the knee injury. Before that, he recorded eight goals and 13 points over 11 contests from Dec. 31-Jan. 25.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Playing Wednesday
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Matthews (knee) will return to action versus the Blackhawks on Wednesday, Mark Masters of TSN reports.
Matthews is back in the lineup after missing the Leafs' previous five contests due to his knee injury. Prior to his absence, the world-class center racked up five goals and one assist in his previous six contests. In addition to retaking his place on the top line, Matthews should be back with the No. 1 power-play unit where he has tallied 18 of his 53 points this season.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Practices in regular jersey
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Matthews (knee) wore a regular jersey during Tuesday's practice, NHL.com's Dave McCarthy reports.
The fact that Matthews was a full participant in Tuesday's practice suggests he could be cleared to return to the lineup for Wednesday's game versus the Blackhawks. Check back for confirmation on Matthews' status prior to puck drop against Chicago.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Skates before practice Thursday
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Matthews (knee) skated before practice Thursday in a non-contact jersey, Lance Hornby of The Toronto Sun reports.
Matthews suffered a sprained knee two weeks ago and was expected to be out a minimum of three weeks at that time. The superstar center has 25 goals and 53 points with 200 shots on goal in 47 games this season.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Shifts to IR
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Matthews (knee) was put on injured reserve Sunday.
The Leafs announced Friday that Matthews would be out for at least three weeks after suffering a sprained knee Wednesday versus the Rangers. He has amassed 25 goals, 53 points, 200 shots on net, 63 blocks and 60 hits in 47 games this season. Toronto activated blueliner T.J. Brodie (rib) from injured reserve Sunday in a corresponding move.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Out a minimum of three weeks
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Matthews will miss a minimum of three weeks with a sprained knee, David Alter of Sports Illustrated reports.
This is horrible news for Matthews and the Maple Leafs, as the reigning two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner had seven goals in his last seven games, giving him 25 markers and 53 points in 47 contests on the season. Expect to see Pontus Holmberg move up the depth chart and center William Nylander while Michael Bunting should take over on the top power-play unit for Matthews.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Seven weeks of excellence
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Matthews scored twice Thursday in a 4-1 win over the Jets.
He came out of the first intermission like a man possessed. Off the opening faceoff, he put the puck through Mark Scheifele's legs at the blue line, skated to the left circle and scored five-hole on Connor Hellebuyck, just eight seconds into the frame. Then Matthews pushed the score to 2-0 at 3:47 of the same frame when he took a pass from Michael Bunting and almost instantly went blocker side from the slot. Matthews has five goals during a four-game goal streak and 11 points, including seven goals, on his current eight-game point streak. Since Nov. 26, he has put up at least a point in 20-of-22 games (15 goals, 15 assists).
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Will play Saturday
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Matthews (undisclosed) will be back in the lineup Saturday versus Boston, David Alter of Sports Illustrated reports.
Matthews confirmed he will play Saturday, and while he would not go into detail about his injury, he said that "it's something I'm going to have to stay on top of." Matthews has 20 goals and 47 points in 41 games this season and had a five-game point streak before his injury.
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Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews: Partaking in full practice Saturday
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Matthews (undisclosed) is participating in a full practice Saturday, Joshua Kloke of The Athletic Toronto reports.
Matthews has missed the last two games as he was also dealing with an illness. The 25-year-old center is on a five-game points streak in which he has three goals and seven points. Overall, Matthews has 20 goals and 47 points in 41 games this season.
