Auston Matthews Hits 100 Points, Toronto Beat Capitals 7-3

Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs became the third player in franchise history to reach 100 points in National Hockey League (NHL)., joining Patrick Kane (2015-16, 2018-19 for the Chicago Blackhawks) and Johnny Gaudreau (2021-22 for the Calgary Flames).

This remarkable achievement occurred during a 7-3 victory against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday. Matthews assisted on the game’s first goal, scored by Michael Bunting in his 100th NHL game.

In 1975-76, Darryl Sittler became the first Leaf to get 100 points in a season, and he scored 117 points two years later. In 1992-93, Doug Gilmour scored 127 points to set the franchise record, and the following year, he added another 111 points to his tally.

Matthews, who still has 58 goals, scored 101 points in the second period when he assisted on an Ilya Mikheyev goal. He expressed gratitude to his teammates for making it thus far.

“It’s humbling,” Matthews said. “To be mentioned with those two guys (Sittler and Gilmour), what they were able to do for this team, the city and paving the way for myself and the guys who are here now, it’s an honour.”

“But it doesn’t happen without the guys on this team and the guys I play with every single night. It’s certainly not about me. I think it’s a team accomplishment.”

Game report

On Tuesday, the Leafs needed a proper overall team response before a game on Pride Night after a terrible loss to the non-playoff Buffalo Sabres.

For the Maple Leafs (48-20-6), William Nylander, Michael Bunting, and Ilya Mikheyev each scored twice, while John Tavares got four assists. They are four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division. Jack Campbell came up with 22 saves in his first start a week after nursing a minor injury.

“I’m feeling a lot better now,” Campbell said. “This is the most crucial time of the year. I’m blessed (Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe) gave me some time to recover.”

Campbell reappeared in the first period after being bowled over by Tom Wilson. Campbell’s mask flew off, but he stayed in the game. Kyle Clifford of the Toronto Maple Leafs reacted in the second, trading blows with Wilson.

Toronto ensured that Washington was never in the game, opening a 2-0 lead in the first period that featured a half-dozen solid Leafs scoring chances. In the second period, the Maple Leafs blew the game open.

John Carlson of the Capitals scored on a clever play on Campbell to trim the Leafs’ lead to one goal. A goal by defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin came 13 seconds after Carlson’s score, kicking off a rush of four Leafs goals in six minutes and six seconds.

Nylander’s second goal came after he poked the ball past Caps starter Ilya Samsonov.

Samsonov was relieved in favor Vitek Vanecek after allowing four goals on 19 shots.

Vanecek did not fare much better, as Mikheyev scored his first goal at 14:44. Bunting’s second goal came at 16:25, following a fantastic assist from Pierre Engvall.

Mikheyev scored his second goal at 1:27 after he stormed in and went to his backhand.

Bunting had not scored since March 7th. His first goal of the night came at 4:37 in the first when Mitch Marner passed the puck to him by the side of thenet. Nylander hit a slapshot that went through Samsonov at 13:45.