TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 50th goal of the season and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Winnipeg Jets 7-3 on Thursday night.
Matthews scored Toronto’s sixth goal of the game into an empty net with 2:06 left in regulation. He moved past Leon Draisaitl (49 goals) of idle Edmonton for the league goal lead and became the first Maple Leafs player to reach the milestone since Dave Andreychuk scored 53 in 1993-94.
William Nylander had two power-play goals and an assist and Ilya Mikheyev scored short-handed and had a three-point game. Mark Giordano added a goal and an assist and John Tavares and Timothy Liljegren also scored Toronto, which got 20 saves from Erik Kallgren. Mitch Marner added three assists.
Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist, Blake Wheeler and Paul Stastny also scored for Winnipeg. Eric Comrie stopped 31 shots.
PANTHERS 4, BLACKHAWKS 0
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 37 shots for his third shutout of the season, leading Florida past Chicago.
Aleksander Barkov scored twice, Gustav Forsling had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Lomberg scored his fourth goal in three games as the Panthers won their 28th home game, a club record for a season.
Jonathan Huberdeau recorded his 71st assist, an NHL record for assists by a left winger. Huberdeau has 94 points, tied with Pavel Bure. He is closing in on the club record of 96 set by Barkov in the 2018-19 season.
The Panthers could clinch a playoff spot as early as Saturday.
Collin Delia stopped 40 shots for the Blackhawks, who lost their third straight game.
HURRICANES 4, CANADIENS 0
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Frederik Andersen made 32 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and Andrei Svechnikov scored twice as Carolina dominated Montreal.
Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen each had a goal and an assist as the Hurricanes stretched their points streak to six games with their third win in the last four outings. Svechnikov’s second goal went into an empty net. Tony DeAngelo and Jaccob Slavin both assisted on two goals. Andersen faced 14 shots in the third period, when the Hurricanes killed off three penalties.
The Canadiens were blanked for the fifth time this season, the last coming on Dec. 30 in the same building against Carolina. Jake Allen stopped 40 shots for Montreal, which has won just once in its last six games (1-3-2).
BRUINS 8, DEVILS 1
BOSTON (AP) — Former Boston College captain Marc McLaughlin scored in his NHL debut, capping a six-goal second-period outburst that propelled Boston over New Jersey.
Brad Marchand had two goals for Boston and had a third waved off — even as fans littered the ice with caps to celebrate the would-be hat trick. Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists, and David Pastrnak had three assists to help the Bruins to their most goals since Thanksgiving, 2019.
Matt Grzelcyk, Jake DeBrusk, Erik Haula and Taylor Hall also scored for Boston. Linus Ullmark made 25 saves to help the Bruins win for the fifth time in six games and the 15th in their last 19.
Jack Hughes scored for the Devils, whose ninth straight road loss eliminated them from playoff contention.
ISLANDERS 5, BLUE JACKETS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Kyle Palmieri scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period to lift New York past Columbus.
Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist, and Sebastian Aho, Oliver Wahlstrom and Ryan Pulock also scored as New York improved to 7-1 in its last eight home games dating to a 6-0 win against the Blue Jackets on March 10.
Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves in his second consecutive start and third straight appearance with Ilya Sorokin sidelined with an upper-body injury.
Emil Bemstrom and Justin Danforth scored for Columbus, which lost its fifth straight. Elvis Merzlikins made 31 saves.
PENGUINS 4, WILD 3, OT
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Evgeni Malkin scored 3:57 into overtime and Rickard Rakell had two goals as Pittsburgh halted Minnesota’s seven-game winning streak.
Jake Guentzel added his 32nd goal of the season for Pittsburgh. Rakell has three goals in six games since being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks for three players and a second-round draft choice. Casey DeSmith made 28 saves.
Pittsburgh moved one point behind the idle New York Rangers for second in the Metropolitan Division. First-place Carolina, which beat Montreal 4-0 on Thursday, is six points ahead of the Penguins.
Kirill Kaprizov scored his 38th goal for Minnesota to tie the franchise record for points in a season with 83. Matt Dumba and Frederick Gaudreau also scored for the Wild. Cam Talbot stopped 35 shots.
AVALANCHE 4, SHARKS 2
DENVER (AP) — Mikko Rantanen scored the go-ahead goal on a power play with 7:43 remaining, Pavel Francouz stopped 25 shots and Colorado Avalanche beat San Jose.
Andre Burakovsky, Darren Helm and Alex Newhook also added goals for the Avalanche, who earned victory No. 27 at Ball Arena this season. They’re one away from tying the franchise record for home victories set in 2000-01 and matched in 2017-18.
Timo Meier and Brent Burns had goals for a Sharks team that was on the second night of a back-to-back. Kaapo Kahkonen turned back 42 shots in his second game for the Sharks after being acquired from Minnesota on March 21.
Colorado has beaten the Sharks at home seven times in a row.
KINGS 3, FLAMES 2, SO
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Lias Andersson scored the deciding goal in the shootout and Cal Petersen made 26 saves for Los Angeles.
Alex Iaffalo and Viktor Arvidsson scored in regulation for Los Angeles, which moved within five points of Pacific Division-leading Calgary. The Flames have three games in hand.
Johnny Gaudreau and Erik Gudbranson scored for Calgary, which lost consecutive games for the first time since early January. After a stretch of winning 15 of 17 home games, Calgary has won just two of its last six (2-2-2) at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Kings and Flames meet again in Los Angeles on Monday night.
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