Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Michael Bunting celebrates scoring a goal with center Auston Matthews during the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Feb. 17.Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
The Maple Leafs begin a stretch with three games in four nights on Saturday when the St. Louis Blues visit Scotiabank Arena.
They could not have looked much better in a 4-1 victory over Sidney Crosby and the Penguins on Thursday, which inched them closer to the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL’s Atlantic Division standings.
It took Auston Matthews only 21 seconds to put Toronto in front in its eighth triumph in the past 10 games. The Maple Leafs got a short-handed goal, scored on the power play and even got a rare assist from goaltender Jack Campbell.
The latter set up Morgan Rielly for a highlight-reel end-to-end rush in which the defenceman skated past three opponents with a man-advantage and wired a shot over goalie Tristan Jarry to make it 2-0 in the second period.
“I barely have words,” fellow defenceman Rasmus Sandin said. “I saw him beat the first guy and thought he was going to kick it out to one of the guys on the boards but he just skated through and scored bar down. I don’t know if you could have done it any better. It is one of the best goals I have ever seen live.”
There will always be naysayers until the team wins a playoff round, but the Maple Leafs are 32-13-3 now and seem to be playing more cohesively all of the time. Aside from losses to Calgary and Vancouver on a tough trip last week, there is little for anyone to complain about.
Campbell seems to have rebounded from a slide in which he gave up four or more goals five times in nine games. He had 45 saves against the Penguins and has now stopped 68 of the past 71 shots.
“He has been outstanding for us all season, but I thought today was maybe as calm and poised as he has been,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the victory. “Even the difficult saves he made look easy.
“It is hard to say because he has been so good, but from behind the bench it felt as good as he has looked all season.”
Pittsburgh, in first place in the Metropolitan Division, entered Thursday’s encounter with just one defeat in regulation time in its previous 14 outings. Instead of it being a close battle Toronto got ahead immediately and maintained control.
“I love that we started fast,” Keefe said. “When you play with the lead for 59 minutes or whatever it was, it’s a good thing.”
The team had a day off on Friday.
The Maple Leafs beat the Blues 6-5 in a wild game in St. Louis on Jan. 15. The Blues are a rugged bunch with balanced scoring and are 28-14-6 and third in the Central Division.
After the Blues game, Toronto travels to Montreal to play the Canadiens on Monday and to Columbus to play the Blue Jackets on Tuesday. With two wins or possibly three, the Maple Leafs could catch up with Tampa Bay and close in on the division-leading Florida Panthers as well.
If anyone predicted they would be this close in the standing as they neared the 50-game mark it would have likely been scoffed at.
“I don’t think we backed down on anything,” Mitch Marner said late Thursday night.
Thursday’s goal by Matthews was No. 33 of the season. He is tied for second in the league with Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers, two behind Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl. Matthews has points in each of the past nine games – and 18 over that stretch.
“You expect great things from him and he keeps delivering,” Keefe said.
Toronto is 18-4-1 at home and has won seven in a row at Scotiabank Arena. This is its longest home winning streak since it won 13 in a row in 2017-18.
It will go for No. 8 on Saturday.