Toronto Maple Leafs at Washington Capitals
· National Hockey LeagueMatthews scores twice to reach 57 this season, Leafs rout Capitals 7-3 despite Ovechkin's 2 goals
Matthews scored his NHL-leading 56th and 57th goals of the season and matched his career high with five points, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 7-3 rout of the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night despite Ovechkin moving closer to Wayne Gretzky. Meanwhile, Matthews' pursuit of the first 70-goal in more than three decades is back on track.
"When the world's best are going at it like that, it's always fun to watch," Leafs forward Bobby McMann said. "Nice that we came out on the right side of it, but yeah it's cool to see."
Ovechkin scored goals 844 and 845 of his career to move 50 back of breaking Gretzky's record that long seemed unapproachable. He's now at 23 this season after scoring 15 goals since Jan. 22 to make up for just eight in his first 43 games.
"We're all kind of running out of words to describe it," Matthews said. "He's the greatest goal-scorer of all-time, so it's always fun to play against him still and still watch him get it done and the excitement and passion he gets when he scores goals. Obviously, we'd like to see him not score against us, but when you're that good, you're bound to get opportunities and he makes good on them most of the time."
"Obviously, we had zero answer for No. 34 tonight," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said, referring to Matthews' jersey number.
And while Ovechkin and Matthews combined for four goals in a showcase of the best scorer of this generation and perhaps his successor, they were far from the only ones lightning the lamp. Connor McMichael also scored for Washington, and William Nylander, Jake McCabe, McMann, Tyler Bertuzzi and John Tavares had Toronto's other goals in a nice bounce-back from a 4-3 loss Tuesday night at Philadelphia.
"We found a way to answer it as a group, and I thought everyone did a great job of that from the first shift," said Max Domi, who had four assists. "Had everyone going, and we're a tough team to beat when we play like that."
As part of a high-event, quick scoring hockey game that was not friendly to the goaltenders, Joseph Woll made 18 saves in net for the Leafs and Charlie Lindgren made 22 for the Capitals, who failed to move back into a playoff position with their winning streak ending at three. They sit one point back of Detroit for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
"Nobody said it's going to be easy," Ovechkin said.
The Caps lost while playing without injured winger T.J. Oshie and forward Aliaksei Protas. Toronto enforcer Ryan Reaves was also out after being poked in the right eye during a fight Tuesday night in Philadelphia, while veteran defenseman T.J. Brodie was a healthy scratch.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.
Capitals: Face longtime center Evgeny Kuznetsov for the first time Friday night when he and the Carolina Hurricanes visit Friday night.
Regular Season SeriesTOR leads series 2-0
Scoring Summary
Goal | 1st Period 0:16 | Auston Matthews Goal (56) Wrist Shot, assists: Max Domi (28) | |
Goal | 2nd Period 0:56 | William Nylander Goal (38) Snap Shot, assists: John Tavares (30), Matthew Knies (16) | |
Goal | 2nd Period 9:57 | Alex Ovechkin Goal (22) Slap Shot, assists: John Carlson (36), Tom Wilson (15) | |
Goal | 2nd Period 12:59 | Auston Matthews Goal (57) Wrist Shot, assists: Max Domi (29), Timothy Liljegren (18) | |
Goal | 2nd Period 13:34 | Connor McMichael Goal (15) Wrist Shot, assists: Rasmus Sandin (19), Ivan Miroshnichenko (2) | |
Goal | 2nd Period 19:35 | Jake McCabe Goal (7) Deflected, assists: Max Domi (30), Auston Matthews (30) | |
Goal | 3rd Period 6:42 | Alex Ovechkin Goal (23) Wrist Shot, assists: Dylan Strome (31) | |
Goal | 3rd Period 7:58 | Bobby McMann Goal (11) Wrist Shot, assists: William Nylander (52), John Tavares (31) | |
Goal | 3rd Period 8:36 | Tyler Bertuzzi Goal (15) Wrist Shot, assists: Auston Matthews (31), Max Domi (31) | |
Goal | 3rd Period 16:02 | John Tavares Goal (23) Backhand, assists: William Nylander (53), Auston Matthews (32) |
Statistics
TOR | WSH | |
---|---|---|
20 | Blocked Shots | 18 |
34 | Hits | 37 |
6 | Takeaways | 9 |
29 | Shots | 21 |
1 | Power Play Goals | 1 |
5 | Power Play Opportunities | 1 |
20.0 | Power Play Percentage | 100.0 |
0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
29 | Faceoffs Won | 27 |
51.8 | Faceoff Win Percent | 48.2 |
6 | Giveaways | 8 |
1 | Total Penalties | 4 |
2 | Penalty Minutes | 10 |
Game Information
Location: Washington, DC
Attendance: 17,727 | Capacity:
Location: Washington, DC
Attendance: 17,727 | Capacity:
2023-24 Atlantic Division Standings
TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
---|---|---|---|---|
Florida | 52 | 24 | 110 | 6 |
Boston | 47 | 20 | 109 | 15 |
Toronto | 46 | 26 | 102 | 10 |
Tampa Bay | 45 | 29 | 98 | 8 |
Detroit | 41 | 32 | 91 | 9 |
Buffalo | 39 | 37 | 84 | 6 |
Ottawa | 37 | 41 | 78 | 4 |
Montreal | 30 | 36 | 76 | 16 |
2023-24 Metropolitan Division Standings
TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
---|---|---|---|---|
NY Rangers | 55 | 23 | 114 | 4 |
Carolina | 52 | 23 | 111 | 7 |
NY Islanders | 39 | 27 | 94 | 16 |
Washington | 40 | 31 | 91 | 11 |
Pittsburgh | 38 | 32 | 88 | 12 |
Philadelphia | 38 | 33 | 87 | 11 |
New Jersey | 38 | 39 | 81 | 5 |
Columbus | 27 | 43 | 66 | 12 |