Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews reaches one-hundred-point plateau in win vs. Washington Capitals
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By Neil Becker
Leafs fans received a huge scare when with less than five minutes remaining in the first period, Capitals forward Tom Wilson was skating in on the for-check and ended up crashing into goalie Jack Campbell. Campbell’s mask went flying off but he would stay in the game.
In the second period, Washington grabbed some momentum when a little past the halfway mark defenceman John Carlson scored his 15th of the year to make it a one-goal game.
That momentum wouldn’t last long as Toronto would go on a run that would see them take control by scoring four straight goals in just over a six-minute span.
Starting things off was defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin who at the 10:19 mark of the second scored his first as a Leaf. It only took 18 seconds for the Leafs to strike again as Nylander scored his second of the game and 30th of the season to not only give the Leafs a 4-1 lead but also chase Capitals starting goalie Ilya Samsonov from the nets.
The Leafs took full control when they added two more goals from forward Ilya Mikheyev with his 16th of the season followed less than two minutes later at the 16:25 mark by Bunting with his second and 22nd of the year for a commanding 6-1 lead.
Washington would get one back when with only 53 seconds left in the second Wilson scored his 24th goal.
A little over a minute into the third Toronto regained that five-goal lead as Mikheyev scored his second of the game and 17th of the season.
Rounding out the scoring with 8:02 remaining in regulation was Capitals Nic Dowd who scored his ninth of the year in what was a 7-3 Leafs win.
Toronto, who are four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for second in the Atlantic Division have only eight regular-season games remaining until playoffs.
The Leafs next see action on Saturday night with a 7 p.m. puck-drop at Canadian Tire Centre against the Ottawa Senators.
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