Jake McCabe scored at 1:30 of time beyond regulation because the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Monday.
Auston Matthews added his NHL-leading sixty fifth objective of the season to associate with an help, whereas Matthew Knies additionally scored for Toronto (45-23-9). Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves.
Rickard Rakell and Drew O’Connor replied for Pittsburgh (36-30-12), which at the moment are 6-0-3 over its final 9 to get again into the Japanese Convention playoff race.
The Penguins, who may have leapfrogged the Detroit Purple Wings for the second wild-card spot with a win, bought 20 stops from Alex Nedeljkovic. The Penguins and Purple Wings are each tied for the ultimate wild-card berth with 84 factors every.
McCabe took a cross from Auston Matthews within the further interval after a close to mix-up at Toronto’s bench and buried his eighth objective of the marketing campaign.
Matthews snapped a 1-1 tie on the ability play at 1:22 of the third interval with Pittsburgh defenceman Erik Karlsson, who wears No. 65, within the field for tripping when he ripped a one-timer three seconds into the person benefit.
The Toronto sniper has scored six instances within the final 5 video games, and stays on tempo to place up 69 objectives with 5 contests left on the regular-season schedule as he appears to turn out to be the primary participant to hit 70 in additional than three many years.
Matthews’ 65 objectives matched Alex Ovechkin’s whole from 2007-08 — probably the most by an lively participant and the NHL’s high-water mark since Mario Lemieux scored 69 in 1995-96.
However Pittsburgh tied it at 13:18 when Drew O’Connor swatted residence his 14th off a scramble within the crease to drive OT.
The Penguins sat 9 factors under the playoff cutline on March 27, however have dragged themselves again into the battle because of that eight-game level streak heading into Monday — and a few pedestrian performances from the groups above and round them within the standings.
Toronto killed off two Pittsburgh energy performs, together with an amazing probability off the stick of Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, in a sleepy opening interval for the house aspect earlier than the guests ultimately grabbed the lead.
Evgeni Malkin took benefit of an Ilya Lyubushkin turnover and fed a cross to Rakell, who kicked the puck to his stick earlier than spinning and firing residence his 14th with former Leafs winger Michael Bunting making a display at 18:06.
Toronto, which has already secured a post-season berth, tilted the ice to start out the second with a few dominant shifts within the offensive zone earlier than T.J. Brodie discovered Knies on the lip of the Pittsburgh crease to redirect his fifteenth previous Nedeljkovic.
Leafs winger Mitch Marner, who returned to the lineup Saturday after lacking 12 video games with a high-ankle sprain, earned his crew’s first energy play later within the interval on a breakaway earlier than one other one-on-one alternative was denied.
The groups then traded probabilities earlier than Crosby rounded out the interval by crashing into the web after being obstructed, taking a puck to the mouth, and colliding with Matthews in a sequence that despatched each stars to the ice.
Sid on 70
Crosby was requested earlier than the sport about Matthews’ pursuit of 70 objectives — one thing not reached in additional than three many years.
“Looks as if a loopy quantity, however he may do it,” mentioned the 36-year-old. “It is superb. Speaks lots to the consistency that he is had.”
Leafs accidents
Joel Edmundson (undisclosed) may play Thursday when New Jersey visits Scotiabank Area, however fellow defenceman Timothy Liljegren (higher physique) and ahead Calle Jarnkrok (hand) usually tend to return subsequent week on the earliest.
Up subsequent
Toronto: Visits the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
Pittsburgh: Hosts the Detroit Purple Wings on Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed April 8, 2024.
