Matthews reaches 50-goal mark as Maple Leafs’ offence rolls in rout over Jets

March 31, 2022

Auston Matthews scored his 50th goal of the season as the Maple Leafs thumped the Winnipeg Jets 7-3 on Thursday night in Toronto.

The sniper, who buried his team’s sixth goal into an empty net with 2:06 left in regulation, is the first Leaf to hit the half-century mark since Dave Andreychuk scored 53 in 1993-94.

William Nylander added two on the power play to go along with an assist and Ilya Mikheyev had a short-handed goal as part of his first three-point night in the NHL for the Leafs.

Mark Giordano, with a goal and an assist, John Tavares and Timothy Liljegren also scored Toronto (43-19-5), which got 20 saves from Erik Kallgren. Mitch Marner added three assists.

Nikolaj Ehlers, with a goal and an assist, Blake Wheeler and Paul Stastny replied for Winnipeg (33-26-10). Eric Comrie stopped 31 shots.

The Leafs were coming off key victories over the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins in the race for Atlantic Division playoff seeding, while the Jets picked up a crucial 3-2 shootout victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday as they continue to battle for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference.