NHL

Montreal Canadiens at Toronto Maple Leafs

· National Hockey League
Final
2 - 3

Matthews scores 57th and 58th, Maple Leafs top Canadiens 3-2

Toronto wrapped up a playoff spot for the sixth straight straight season and hit 100 points in the standings.

Matthews' opener marked his 50th goal in his last 50 games, making him the first player to accomplish the feat since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96.

“I don’t really have too many words for that,” Matthews said. “It’s pretty surreal. He’s one of the best players to ever play. It’s extremely humbling.”

Matthews extended his points streak to 16 games (21 goals, 10 assists).

“He’s doing something special right now,” said defenseman Morgan Rielly, Toronto’s longest serving player. “To be a part of it is a lot of fun.”

Linemate Mitch Marner has a 13-game run (eight goals, 20 assists).

John Tavares also scored for Toronto, and Erik Kallgren made 24 saves.

Cole Caufield and Joel Edmundson scored for Montreal. Jake Allen stopped the first 14 shots he faced before leaving with an apparent leg injury as he stretched for Matthews’ first goal.

Sam Montembeault made 23 stops the rest of the way.

“It’s never easy to come in cold,” Montembault said. “I might have been better off getting the first one from someone other than Matthews.”

Matthews set Toronto’s single-season record for goals when he scored for the 55th and 56th time on Thursday night in a 4-3 overtime victory in Dallas.

Rick Vaive, who held the franchise mark of 54 goals in a campaign for 40 years, was on hand at Scotiabank Arena earlier Saturday to personally congratulate the 24-year-old on his accomplishment before becoming the first NHLer in 26 years to bag 50 in 50.

“He had some really nice words,” Matthews said. “Guys like him that have come before us really paved the way and showed what it really means to be a Toronto Maple Leaf. Just a really, really cool day.”

Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos is the last NHL player to get to 60 goals when he reached the milestone in 2011-12.

UP NEXT

Canadiens: Host Winnipeg on Monday night.

Maple Leafs: Host Buffalo on Tuesday night.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 2-2

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 13:32
Goal 1st Period 13:59
Goal 2nd Period 5:58
Goal 2nd Period 8:07
Goal 2nd Period 18:03

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/mtl.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMTL https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tor.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTOR
18 Blocked Shots 7
32 Hits 43
9 Takeaways 6
26 Shots 40
0 Power Play Goals 0
4 Power Play Opportunities 5
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
21 Faceoffs Won 32
39.6 Faceoff Win Percent 60.4
11 Giveaways 15
7 Total Penalties 5
22 Penalty Minutes 10
Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Maple Leafs Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Bobby McMann, C Out Mar 4
Scott Laughton, C Out Mar 4
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D Out Mar 4
Chris Tanev, D Injured Reserve Mar 4
Montreal Canadiens Montreal Canadiens Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Joe Veleno, C Day-To-Day Mar 4
Patrik Laine, RW Injured Reserve Jan 10

Game Information

Scotiabank Arena

Location: Toronto, ON
Attendance: 19,113 | Capacity:

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Tampa Bay 38 18 80 4
Buffalo 37 19 80 6
Detroit 35 20 77 7
Montreal 33 18 75 9
Boston 34 22 73 5
Ottawa 30 22 69 9
Toronto 27 25 65 11
Florida 30 29 63 3
Full Standings