NHL Scores: Auston Matthews scores twice for Leafs, Sam Bennett scores after scratch, and more
Anthony Scultore
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Auston Matthews is on a tear. In the Maple Leafs (9-2-1) 5-1 win over the Canucks (6-9) he scored twice and now has 10 goals on the season. The 23 year-old center leads the league in that category and has 4 goals in his last two games. His tallies extends the goal scoring streak to 7 games. Remarkable.
“I think that speaks to his ability and how special he is,” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “That goal, it happened so fast that I don’t think anybody on the ice was really ready for it, just how quickly he went from going around a defender to putting it in the net. All season he’s been really good for us, but these last two games, he’s really had jump.”
NHL Scores: Sam Bennett scores in return, will trade speculation end?
Trade Bait candidate Sam Bennett returned to lineup last night for the Battle of Alberta. He scored for the Flames (5-5-1) in their wild 6-4 win over the rival Oilers (6-7).
“Great play by Johnny,” Bennett said after playing 11:29 coming off a healthy scratch. “It was rimmed behind the net, Johnny picked it up quick and he just knew I was there, right on the tape, and that’s an easy one for me. He’s a pretty special player and really fun to play with.”
The question remains, was his reinsertion into the lineup a showcasing for a trade, or should it end speculation? Time will tell.
The Islanders (4-4-2) after a week long hiatus due to COVID postponements rallied in the third period to defeat the Penguins (5-5-1) 4-3. Anders Lee notched the PP winner with under 3 minutes left to play.
In other action, the Canadiens (8-2-2) continue their strong season with a 2-1 win over the Senators (2-9-1) with Josh Anderson picking up his 8th of the season. The Coyotes (5-5-1) knocked off the Blues (7-4-1) 3-1 thanks to solid goaltending by Darcy Kuemper. Over in Anaheim the Ducks (5-5-3) edged the Sharks (4-5-1) 2-1 in a shootout.
NHL News: League reschedules over 20 games
Yesterday, the NHL rescheduled contests that were postponed due to COVID-19 and made some other changes to accommodate.
Click here for a full list of games impacted.
NHL News: More names added to COVID List
Buffalo has added two more players to their growing COVID list. Now Dylan Cozens and Curtis Lazar are on it. Washington now has Jakub Vrana on it as well.