Matthews Makes History: Leafs get by Panthers

Heading into Tuesday night's game, the focus was split between two story lines at this time of year. The first being how important it was for the Maple Leafs to win tonight. With Toronto in the midst of a playoff race and the season winding down, every game is increasingly crucial. The other story buzzing around last night's game was would Auston Matthews pass Wendel Clark to capture the Leafs Rookie record for goals scored.

Just pass the halfway mark of the first period Toronto was buzzing in the Florida zone. Leafs forward Zach Hyman attempted a wrap-around on James Reimer, but the puck rolled off of his stick and onto the stick of who else but Auston Matthews and he ripped a wrist-shot past James Reimer to put the Maple Leafs ahead 1-0 while surpassing Wendel Clark for #1 on the Rookie Goal Scoring list. The Maple Leafs seemed to gain momentum after the goal and it was on display rather quickly.

Not even 3-minutes later, Jonathan Huberdeau was streaking down the middle of the neutral zone when he was stripped off the puck by Leo Komarov. The loose puck was chipped off of the boards to Connor Brown who then was on a 2-on-1 rush with Leo Komarov. Brown with a great pass hit Komarov in stride who then one-timed the puck past James Reimer, and the Leafs led 2-0.

Fast-forwarding now to the middle of the 2nd period, Panthers goalie James Reimer was lunging for a loose puck when his head made contact with and collided with Leafs forward Brian Boyle. Reimer was removed from the game and Reto Berra entered the game in in his place.

Moving on now, after a swift redirect goal from Panthers forward Reilly Smith in the 2nd, and a shorthanded marker from Zach Hyman early in the 3rd, the Leafs led 3-1 with just over a minute to play when Jake Gardiner took a trip to the box for tripping. It only took the Panthers 12-seconds on the powerplay to cut the Leafs lead in half after Jaromir Jagr would put in a rebound goal on the Powerplay. With the score now 3-2, it was going to be a nerve-wracking finish.

The Panthers had possession of the puck in the Leafs zone, but after Roman Polak blocked a Keith Yandle shot and Jonathan Huberdeau missed the net, the Leafs would hang on for the 3-2 win.

After the first game of the Leafs season when Auston Matthews scored 4-goals, many thought that the Maple Leafs Rookie goal record would be in jeopardy. 74 games later Matthews finally eclipsed Wendel Clark by tallying the 35th goal of his Rookie campaign.

The win for Toronto keeps paces them 1-point ahead of the Bruins, as Boston was also able to win last night defeating the Nashville Predators 4-1. While the Ottawa Senators fell 3-2 in a shootout to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Leafs inched to within 4-points of the Sens. The Tampa Bay Lightning were inactive last night, and the Leafs lead on the Lightning bolted up to 4-points.

***Next Toronto Maple Leafs Game

@ Nashville Predators, Thursday, March 30th, 2017 (8:00PM)