Maple Leafs suffer rare regulation loss despite another multi-goal game by Matthews

Get the latest from Terry Koshan straight to your inbox

Article content

Auston Matthews double-dipped, yet again, on Tuesday night.

Advertisement 2

Article content

His Maple Leafs teammates couldn’t back him up against the New York Rangers at Scotiabank Arena.

Article content

After missing one game because he was sick, Matthews scored both Leafs goals, marking the ninth time this season he has had a multi-goal game. 

In their last home game before Christmas, the rest of the Leafs couldn’t come up with one goal on Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin, and Toronto wound up losing 5-2. 

The final score would indicate the Leafs were outplayed, but that’s not what happened.

Three Rangers goals were the result of bounces off Leafs players. The winner was not scored until midway through the third period when New York defenceman Braden Schneider took advantage of a defensive-zone breakdown, swept past John Tavares and slipped the puck under Leafs goalie Martin Jones. 

Article content

Advertisement 3

Article content

What’s more, the Leafs didn’t have a power play in a regular-season game for the first time since March 10, 2022, against Arizona. 

At five-on-five, Toronto had a slight edge in shot attempts (59-53) and had nine high-danger scoring chances while limiting New York to four.

Some losses have had the Leafs restlessly staring at the ceiling through the wee hours of the morning. 

This was not one of them. 

“When three goals are going off of us and in the net, bouncing around and you don’t get any power plays, you’re probably not winning the game,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “These things happen over the course of 82. But I had no issues with our game. 

“It’s a strange game. I thought we had more O-zone time than they did. We did more than enough, but they defended well, had disciplined sticks and there was nothing there for us.”

Advertisement 4

Article content

The Rangers entered the game with the third-best power play in the NHL and scored on both of their power plays. Artemi Panarin’s shot on a man advantage went off William Lagesson for the fourth New York goal at 15:08 of the third.
Mika Zibanejad sealed the outcome with an empty-net goal.

The Leafs were 10-1-4 in their previous 15 games and lost for just the seventh time in regulation this season. Prior to Tuesday, only Boston, Vegas and Los Angeles had lost fewer games in regulation in 2023-24.

The Rangers improved to 10-4 in their past 14 games.

Recommended from Editorial

Advertisement 5

Article content

THOUGHTS AND DOTS

Matthews on his energy: “I thought it was fine. Maybe not as good as I wanted. Could have liked a little more jump.” … After a pre-game ceremony that honoured Tavares for recording 1,000 points in the NHL, the Leafs captain failed to extend his point streak to eight games. Tavares on the ceremony: “It was really special. I can’t say enough about being a Maple Leaf and playing for this organization and the fan base, the reception from everyone. Some tremendous gifts and a lot of love. I appreciate it very much, it meant a lot to me and my family and it was great to share that moment with them.” … Earlier this week, we argued that Jones should get the start after shutting out Pittsburgh with 38 saves on Saturday. It was only natural, and now the question for Keefe: Does he start Jones in the Leafs’ remaining two games before the Christmas break? The Leafs are in Buffalo to face the Sabres on Thursday before heading to Columbus to play the Blue Jackets on Saturday. As much as the Leafs don’t want Ilya Samsonov to go too long between starts — he has not played since the club lost in overtime against Columbus last Thursday — they also don’t want to doubt whether Samsonov can help lead them to victory. Right now, there is little guarantee that Samsonov has that in him … Zibanejad was credited with the first New York goal at 6:11 of the second when a Blake Wheeler shot went off him and then off TJ Brodie before the puck skipped over the goal line. On the second, a shot by Alexis Lafreniere hit Morgan Rielly and changed direction before eluding Jones. “We’ve had some fortunate bounces ourselves (in previous games),” Rielly said. “You’ve just got to take it and move on.” … Rielly made a heads-up play to find Matthews for the goal that tied the game 1-1. Rielly carried into the circle to Shesterkin’s right before looking back to feed Matthews, who then went to the top corner to score at 7:32 of the second period. Matthews’ second goal gave him 25 and two more than Vancouver’s Brock Boeser … Lafreniere’s power-play goal at 9:50 of the second was his first goal in 13 games … After losing 7-3 to the Leafs last week in New York, the Rangers were tighter from the opening faceoff. Truth be told, neither team had a bundle of good scoring chances as the first period passed without a goal … Noah Gregor’s speed continues to be a revelation. It’s a little hard to believe Gregor had to earn a job with the Leafs on a professional tryout in training camp. Few games go by without Gregor blowing past an opponent for a scoring chance. We doubt he will require a PTO next fall to earn a shot with a team … Brodie was back after missing one game with an illness … In setting up Matthews for the second Toronto goal, Jake McCabe ran his point streak to five games … Jones didn’t like the Schneider goal. “It was the disappointing one,” Jones said. “I’d like to play that a little different at that time in the game, who knows what could have happened after that.” … Members of the Leafs’ scouting department have gathered in Toronto for meetings. Jake Muzzin, now working as a pro scout for the club, was among those watching from the press box, sitting with injured Leafs Mark Giordano and Matt Murray.

[email protected]

X: @koshtorontosun

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Article content