NHL Review April 11, 2021

MATTHEWS, MARNER PROPEL MAPLE LEAFS IN HIGH-SCORING AFFAIR

Auston Matthews (3-1—4) and Mitchell Marner (1-3—4) each surpassed the 50-point mark this season as the Toronto Maple Leafs outlasted the Senators in a 6-5 win and extended the NHL’s longest active point streak to 10 games (9-0-1). Toronto (28-10-3, 59 points) moved past Carolina (27-9-4, 58 points) and idle Colorado (27-9-4, 58 points) for first place in the League standings.

Matthews, a native of San Ramon, Calif., scored a career-high 47 goals in 2019-20 and is averaging an NHL-best 0.72 goals per game over the last two seasons (min. 50 GP). In the process, the Maple Leafs forward became the first U.S.-born player in NHL history to score 30 or more goals in each of his first five career seasons.

Matthews (31-21—52 in 38 GP), who scored his third career hat trick, became the first player to reach the 30-goal mark this season. Only three other active players hit the benchmark in as many games or fewer in a single campaign: Alex Ovechkin (34 GP in 2013-14), Sidney Crosby (37 GP in 2010-11) and Steven Stamkos (38 GP in 2010-11).

Meanwhile, fellow U.S.-born teammate Jack Campbell improved to 11-0-0 through his first 11 appearances in 2020-21 (1.88 GAA, .934 SV%, 2 SO) and established an NHL record for longest win streak to start a season.

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Auston Matthews opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs at 8:52 of the first period and later scored the second Toronto goal of the night at 9:31 of the first period before adding the secondary assist on Marner’s second period goal and scoring the fourth Toronto goal of the game at 19:16 of the second period to complete his third career hat trick. With four points tonight, Matthews has tied his career-high for points in a game (4 – 8x).
  
  The game is Matthews’ eighth multi-goal game and 16th multi-point performance of 2020-21. He has recorded goals (7) and points (7-3-10) in four consecutive games. He has scored 22 goals in 23 career games against Ottawa, which ranks fifth among active skaters and puts him in a tie for 11th all-time for goals scored against the Senators franchise. His second goal of the period marks the fifth time in his career he has reached the 30-goal mark. Per NHL Stats, Matthews is the first U.S.-born player in NHL history to score 30 or more goals in each of his first five seasons.
  
• Mitch Marner registered the primary assist on Matthews’ first and second goals in the first period and later scored the third Maple Leafs goal of the night at 16:53 of the second period before adding the primary assist on Auston Matthews’ second period goal. With three assists tonight, Marner has tied his career-high for assists in a game (3 – 16x). Marner has assists (4) in two consecutive games.
  
  This is Marner’s eighth multi-assist and 14th multi-point game of 202-21. He has 14 points (3-11-14) in eight games against the Senators this season. In 22 games on home ice in 2020-21, he has registered 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists). He is tied for second among NHL skaters in primary assists (25). He is tied for seventh in the NHL in even-strength goals (14).
  
• Ilya Mikheyev scored the fifth Maple Leafs goal of the night at 4:44 of the third period and later had the secondary assist on Zach Hyman’s third period goal. Tonight’s game is Mikheyev’s first multi-point performance of 2020-21 after recording six in 2019-20. He has assists (2) and points (1-2-3) in two consecutive games. He has scored three of his six goals in 2020-21 against the Senators. Toronto is 6-0-0 when he records a goal this season.
  
• Zach Hyman registered the primary assist on Mikheyev’s third period goal and later scored the sixth Toronto goal of the night into an empty net at 19:33 of the third period. Hyman has assists (4) and points (2-4-6) in four consecutive games, and goals (2) in two consecutive games. He has recorded nine of his 16 assists on home ice this season. In seven games against the Senators in 2020-21, Hyman has registered seven points (4-3-7). He ranks second among Toronto skaters in game-winning goals (4).
  
• Morgan Rielly collected the secondary assist on Matthews’ second goal in the first period. He has five assists in eight games against Ottawa this season. In 22 games on home ice in 2020-21, he has recorded 14 points (2-12-14). He is tied for 14th among NHL defencemen in assists recorded at 5-on-5 (11). He is tied for 12th among NHL defencemen in even-strength points (3-13-16).
  
• Alex Galchenyuk registered the primary assist on Marner’s second period goal and later had the secondary assist on Matthews’ second period goal. Tonight’s game is his second multi-assist and multi-point game of the season. He has recorded six points (1-5-6) in 11 games with the Maple Leafs this season. He has five assists in six games on home ice with Toronto.
  
• Travis Dermott had the secondary assist on Mikheyev’s third period goal. Dermott has three points (1-2-3) over his last five games played. He has five points (2-3-5) in 37 games played in 2020-21.
  
• John Tavares recorded the primary assist on Zach Hyman’s third period goal. Tavares has five points (2-3-5) over his last four games. He has recorded seven points (3-4-7) in eight games against Ottawa in 2020-21. The Maple Leafs are 12-3-2 when he records an assist this season.
  
• Jack Campbell stopped 27 shots to improve his record to 11-0-0 and establish a new NHL record for longest win streak from the start of the season by a goaltender (Previous: Carey Price, Montreal; 10W).

O’REILLY HELPS BLUES CLIMB INTO A PLAYOFF POSITION

Mike Hoffman tied the game twice, including an equalizer with 42 seconds remaining in regulation, and set the stage for Ryan O’Reilly in overtime. The Blues (19-16-6, 44 points) swept their two-game set with the third-seeded Wild (24-13-3, 51 points) and leapfrogged the idle Coyotes (19-17-5, 43 points) into fourth place in the Honda West Division.

After powering St. Louis with a four-point outing on Friday, O’Reilly’s game winner marked the latest overtime goal in Blues history – one second later than Vince Dunn’s mark in 2018-19 (4:57 on March 30, 2019). The Blues captain also became the third player to score within the final five seconds of overtime this season, joining Minnesota’s Matt Dumba (4:59 on Feb. 27) and Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn (4:59 on March 4).

BLACKHAWKS, STARS GAIN GROUND ON PREDATORS IN CENTRAL

The Blackhawks (19-18-5, 43 points) and Stars (15-14-10, 40 points) each earned pivotal wins on Saturday to move within two and five points, respectively, of the Predators (22-19-1, 45 points) who hold the final playoff spot in the Discover Central Division.

Jason Robertson (11-16—27) recorded his first career two-goal game and tied Chicago’s Pius Suter and Ottawa’s Josh Norris for the second-most goals among rookies this season. He also registered his sixth multi-point game of 2020-21, which trails only Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov (8) for the most among rookies.

Wyatt Kalynuk’s first career NHL goal came on the night the Blackhawks overcame a multi-goal deficit to win for the second time in 2020-21 (also: March 5 vs. TBL). Chicago currently sits atop the League in goals by rookies this season (Pius Suter: 11, Philipp Kurashev: 7, Brandon Hagel: 5, Nicolas Beaudin: 2, Ian Mitchell: 2 and Kalynuk: 1).

LIGHTNING, JETS AND FLAMES STIFLE OPPONENTS TO COLLECT SHUTOUT WINS

The Lightning (28-11-2, 58 points), Jets (25-13-3, 53 points) and Flames (17-21-3, 37 points) received shutout performances from Andrei Vasilevskiy (36 saves), Connor Hellebuyck (19 saves) and Jacob Markstrom (17 saves), respectively, to collect wins on Saturday.

While Vasilevskiy posted his fourth shutout of the season, rookie Ross Colton scored the game-winning goal and collected his 10th point of the season (7-3—10 in 15 GP). Tampa Bay’s fourth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft (No. 118) owns a three-game goal streak and trails only Anthony Cirelli (4 GP in 2018-19) and Cedric Paquette (4 GP in 2014-15) for the longest such run by a Lightning rookie.

Nikolaj Ehlers (1-1—2) was one of five different Winnipeg goal scorers and became the eighth player to score 10 road goals this season. The Jets, 2-0-0 on their current five-game road trip, improved to 14-7-1 as visitors this season and moved into a tie with the Maple Leafs (14-4-1) for the most road wins among all clubs in 2020-21.

Mark Giordano (1-1—2) earned his 90th career multi-point game as Markstrom recorded three shutouts in a single season for the first time in his career. Only two netminders in franchise history have recorded more in their first season with the Flames: Roman Turek (5 in 2001-02) and Miikka Kiprusoff (4 in 2003-04).

Vancouver Canucks to Resume Regular Season on April 16; North Division Schedule to End on May 16

The National Hockey League has announced that, pending test results, the Vancouver Canucks will re-open their facilities for practice on Sunday, April 11, with a return to game play on Friday, April 16 vs. Edmonton. The decision was made by the League’s, NHLPA’s and Club’s medical groups.

A total of eight Canucks games have been postponed – March 31 through April 14. The League has rescheduled those games with the team’s 56-game schedule now ending on Sunday, May 16.

The Canucks’ organization has, and will continue to follow, all recommended guidelines aimed at protecting the health and safety of its Players, staff and community at large as set by the NHL, local, provincial and federal agencies.

The NHL will continue to assess the progression of the regular season before announcing definitive dates for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the newly revised end date for the regular season for the North Division, it is possible that the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the East, Central and West Divisions could open a few days earlier than the North Division.

PREVIEW OF TODAY’S ACTION

The top two teams in the Honda West Division will take to the ice on Sunday. Nathan MacKinnon will put his eight-game point streak on the line when the first-place Avalanche (27-9-4, 58 points) face off with the Ducks, while the second-place Golden Knights (26-11-2, 54 points) – with at least six goals in each of their last two wins – host the Coyotes.