TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (43-19-5 – 91 Points) vs. WINNIPEG JETS (33-26-10 – 76 Points) THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022 1 2 3 FINAL WINNIPEG 2 1 0 3 TORONTO 1 4 2 7 SCORING NOTES
Mark Giordano scored for Toronto at 15:03 of the first period. Giordano posted his seventh goal of the season and first as a Maple Leaf. Giordano also recorded the secondary assist on Liljegren’s goal. Giordano posted his 18th assist of the season.
William Nylander scored on a Toronto power play opportunity at 1:58 of the second period. He scored his second power play goal of the game at 8:40 of the second period. Nylander has posted 26 goals this season. Nylander also recorded the primary assist on Liljegren’s goal. Nylander posted his 37th assist of the season. Nylander has recorded four points through his last two games (2G, 2A).
John Tavares scored for the Maple Leafs at 4:08 of the second period. Tavares posted his 23rd goal of the season. Tavares is currently on a four-game point streak where he has recorded six points (3G, 3A).
Ilya Mikheyev scored shorthanded for Toronto at 13:55 of the second period. Mikheyev recorded his 15th goal of the season. Mikheyev also posted the primary assist on Giordano’s goal and the secondary assist on Tavares’ goal. Mikheyev has recorded seven assists this season.
Auston Matthews scored for Toronto at 17:54 of the third period. Matthews posted his 50th goal of the season. Matthews also recorded the primary assist on Nylander’s first goal of the game. Matthews registered his 37th assist of the season. Matthews has recorded 19 points (13G, 6A) through his last 11 games played.
Timothy Liljegren scored for the Maple Leafs at 18:14 of the third period. Liljegren recorded his second goal of the season. Liljegren also registered the secondary assist on Giordano’s goal. Liljegren posted his 17th assist of the season.
Mitch Marner recorded the secondary assist on Nylander’s first goal of the game, the primary assist on Nylander’s second goal of the game and the primary assist on Matthews’ goal. Marner has posted 51 assists this season. Marner is currently on an eight-game point streak where he has posted 17 points (5G, 12A).
Carl Dahlström recorded the primary assist on Tavares’ goal. Dahlström recorded his first assist of the season and first point with the Maple Leafs.
Morgan Rielly posted the secondary assist on Nylander’s second goal of the game. Rielly registered his 47th assist of the season. Rielly is currently on a three-game point streak where he has posted six points (2G, 4A).
Pierre Engvall recorded the primary assist on Mikheyev’s shorthanded goal. Engvall posted his 13th assist of the season.
Justin Holl registered the secondary assist on Mikheyev’s shorthanded goal. Holl posted his 14th assist of the season. GOALTENDER NOTES
Erik Källgren stopped 20 of 23 shots in tonight’s win. SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
The Maple Leafs were 2-for-6 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill tonight.
Ilya Mikheyev scored Toronto’s league-leading 11th shorthanded goal of the season. Mikheyev leads the Maple Leafs with four shorthanded goals scored this season.
With two power play goals scored during tonight’s game, William Nylander now leads the Maple Leafs with 26 power play points recorded this season (10G, 16A). OF NOTE…
Auston Matthews recorded his 50th goal of the season during tonight’s game. Matthews became the fourth Maple Leaf in franchise history to reach the 50-goal mark, joining Dave Andreychuk (1993-94), Gary Leeman (1989-90) and Rick Vaive (1981-82, 1982-83 & 1983-84).
Per NHL Stats, Matthews became the first NHLer to reach the 50-goal mark in a season in 62 games played or fewer since 1995-96, when four players did so: Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux (50-70—120 in 50 GP) and Jaromir Jagr (50-60—110 in 59 GP), Vancouver’s Alexander Mogilny (51-41—92 in 60 GP) as well as Washington’s Peter Bondra (50-26—76 in 62 GP).
With his 37th assist of the season posted tonight during tonight’s win, Auston Matthews set a new career-high in assists.
William Nylander recorded a three-point game tonight with two goals and an assist. With his second goal of the night, Nylander set a new-career high in points with his 62nd of the season.
Mitch Marner recorded his 50th assist of the season during tonight’s win. Per NHL Stats, Marner recorded the third 50-assist season of his career, equaling Mats Sundin for the third most in franchise history behind Darryl Sittler (6x) and Borje Salming (5x).
Ilya Mikheyev recorded a single-game career-high three points (1G, 2A) during tonight’s game.
With a goal and an assist recorded tonight, Timothy Liljegren tied a single-game career-high two points, previously set on Feb. 12, 2022 at SEA (2A).
Carl Dahlström was on the ice for a team-high 16 Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5.
Carl Dahlström finished the game with a team-high 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 64.00 percent (16 for, 9 against). SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets) 1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL WINNIPEG 8 (6) 5 (4) 10 (8) 23 (18) TORONTO 12 (6) 13 (7) 13 (8) 38 (21) SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets) 1st 2nd 3rd TOTAL WINNIPEG 12 (10) 13 (10) 17 (15) 42 (35) TORONTO 20 (11) 24 (16) 21 (14) 65 (41) ON HOME ICE
The Maple Leafs are 25-7-2 at home this season.
Toronto’s all-time record is 41-24-1-9 in 75 games against the Winnipeg Jets and 20-12-1-4 in 37 games played in Toronto.
Toronto is 19-9-3 against the Western Conference this season and 8-4-3 against the Central Division this season. RECORD WHEN…
Toronto is 14-13-3 when the opponent scores the first goal of the game.
The Maple Leafs are 5-9-3 when trailing after one period and 32-1-2 when leading after two periods.
Toronto is 26-13-4 when outshot by their opponent.
The Maple Leafs are 6-3-1 in Thursday games. MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS Shots 6 (Matthews, Nylander) Shot Attempts 13 (Matthews) Face-off Wins 14 (Kämpf) Face-off Win Percentage 67% (Kerfoot – 2 won, 1 lost – Kämpf – 14 won, 7 lost Hits 6 (Clifford) Blocked Shots 2 (Holl, Giordano, Brodie) Takeaways 3 (Giordano, Mikheyev) TOI 23:56 (Rielly) Power Play TOI 6:15 (Nylander) Shorthanded TOI 3:22 (Brodie) Shifts 28 (Holl) 5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage 64.00% (Dahlstrom – 16 for, 9 against) UPCOMING GAMES: April 2 Leafs at Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center 7:00 pm ET April 4 Leafs at Tampa Bay Amalie Arena 7:30 pm ET April 5 Leafs at Florida FLA Live Arena 7:00 pm ET April 7 Leafs at Dallas American Airlines Center 8:30 pm ET April 9 Leafs vs. Montreal Scotiabank Arena 7:00 pm ET April 12 Leafs vs. Buffalo Scotiabank Arena 7:00 pm ET Stats reflect official NHL stats at the time of distribution. Please consult official NHL game sheets (links above) to confirm no statistical changes were made.
POSTGAME QUOTES: HEAD COACH SHELDON KEEFE On Auston Matthews scoring 50 goals: “It was fun. The fans enjoyed it. It made for a great atmosphere there in the third period. They were encouraging him and pushing Auston and I thought it was great. Good to see the fans have that moment and Auston to have that accomplishment here on home ice, it was great.” AUSTON MATTHEWS On if he thought scoring 50 might not happen tonight: “I don’t know, I just keep playing and keep shooting and obviously I had some good looks but not sure if I ever envisioned it being an empty net goal but I’ll take it, a goal’s a goal. Like you said, I had some good chances tonight just wasn’t going in and fortunately it did in the last minute.” On the reception he received from his teammates after the game: “Wet. I got pretty soaked, lots of water and stuff but it’s awesome. The love and support from all these guys, we’ve got an extremely close group. This obviously doesn’t happen without all these guys on this team so it means a lot.” MARK GIORDANO On Auston Matthews scoring 50 goals: “Pretty cool, I think watching him on tv over the years and playing against him is one thing but when you get to see him every day, day-in and day-out, in practice with his shot and his release, that’s pretty impressive. I honestly think I’m more impressed watching him play defensively since I’ve been here. It’s been unreal, the way he backchecks and plays in his own end and then when he gets his chances it’s pretty cool. That moment must have been pretty special for him.” On scoring his first goal as a Maple Leaf: “It felt pretty good. I think it was Johnny going back door there and I was trying to hit him but I’ll take that bounce. It was nice to see it go in. I thought individually I wasn’t very good to start the game so I felt like that really helped me get going and move on from a couple mistakes.” WILLIAM NYLANDER On Matthews scoring 50 and the fan reaction: “It was pretty unreal. It actually reminded me of when I was younger and my dad was playing in Washington and Ovechkin scored 50 one night when I was there. I think it was the night where he did the fire gestured. It brought back some memories and it’s just incredible and well deserved.”
The view from left field 