2023-12-20 02:30:00
Auston Matthews highlighted his return to action with a two-goal haul Tuesday night, but that performance wasn’t enough for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers.
With his two goals, Matthews took the lead in NHL scoring this season and became the first player to reach the 25-goal plateau in 2023-2024. The American forward missed the Leafs’ last game due to a virus.
Matthews reached the 25-goal plateau in just 28 games. He became the fifth player in Maple Leafs history to achieve this feat after Babe Dye, Reg Noble, Charlie Conacher and Wendel Clark.
Rather, it was Mika Zibanejad’s two goals that benefited the Rangers. Quebecer Alexis Lafrenière also found the back of the net for the first time in 13 games, while Braden Schneider and Artemi Panarin also scored.
The Rangers have now won their last three games, beating the two best teams in the Atlantic in the process. Saturday night, New York had the best of the Boston Bruins.
Igor Shesterkin rejected 31 of the 33 shots aimed at him to enjoy the victory, while his opposite Martin Jones gave up four times on 35 shots.
The Rangers had a bit of luck midway through the game to open the scoring. A Blake Wheeler shot initially seemed to deflect a few times in front of Jones’ cage. Zibanejad was the last player hit by the puck, which then ended up in the back of the net.
The Maple Leafs’ response came more convincingly a little over a minute later. A brilliant climb from Morgan Rielly allowed him to put the puck behind him for Matthews, who tied the game 1-1 with a quick shot.
Lafrenière then ended his 12-game lethargy without scoring. A little more than two minutes after Matthews’ goal, the Quebecer took advantage of a numerical advantage to shoot a wrist shot that deflected off Rielly, before finding himself in the back of the net to put the Rangers back in the driver’s seat .
But as on the first occasion, it was Matthews who was responsible for bringing everyone back to square one. Quickly in the third period, Matthews was forgotten in the slot and he took advantage of a nice pass from Jake McCabe to score his second goal of the game.
Midway through the period, Schneider made a great individual play in the opposing zone and tucked the puck between Jones’ pads to bring the score to 3-2 in favor of the New Yorkers.
The Rangers then dealt a hard blow to the Maple Leafs on the power play, when Artemi Panarin completed a nice passing play to double his team’s lead. Zibanejad completed the score into an empty net.
The Maple Leafs face the Buffalo Sabers on Thursday, while the Rangers will return to action against the Oilers on Friday.
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