SUNRISE, Flo – Auston Matthews was held in check Tuesday night in a 5-2 loss of the Toronto Maple Leafs at the hands of the Florida Panthers, for Toronto’s penultimate game of the season.
After 81 games, the Leafs star center remains stuck at 69 goals. He is trying to become the first player since Brett Hull in 1990-1991 to have a 70-goal season.
By virtue of this defeat, Sheldon Keefe’s men will begin their playoff journey against the Boston Bruins, whom they last faced in the spring of 2019, at the same stage of the post-season schedule.
As for the Panthers, who finished their regular season with four straight wins, they will find a familiar opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who swept them in four games in 2022.
No. 34 was presented with a few good chances to complete the coveted feat, but came up against reserve goalkeeper Anthony Stolarz.
Mitch Marner and Noah Gregor allowed Toronto to quickly take a 2-0 lead before the 12th minute of play in the first period.
But as soon as the break returned, the Panthers stormed the cage defended by Joseph Woll, en route to a harvest of five consecutive goals, including the 56th and 57th from Sam Reinhart.
Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett and Brandon Montour contributed to the rise of the Floridians in the last two thirds.
On Wednesday, Matthews and his teammates will take the ice at Amalie Arena.
Keefe was asked whether his sniper would play this last match of the season even if there are no possible repercussions in the standings.
“We have 12 healthy forwards,” he summed up. We’re going to talk about it. »
If the American will want to join a select group of 13 skaters who have already scored 70 times in a season, the Russian Nikita Kucherov will want to confirm his Art-Ross trophy awarded to the best pointer on the Bettman circuit.
With his 43 goals and 99 assists for a total of 142 points entering his last meeting, Kucherov leads by a margin of four points over Nathan MacKinnon (51-87-138) of the Colorado Avalanche.
By adding a 100th assist to his record, No. 86 from Tampa would be the fifth hockey player in NHL history to achieve this, two days after Connor McDavid, of the Edmonton Oilers, added his name to those of Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
There is also one game left on the Avalanche schedule, which will host the Oilers on Thursday on the last day of activities before the playoffs.
The Jets ensure they play at home in the 1st round
Kyle Connor scored twice, Tyler Toffoli broke a tie in the third period and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-3.
With their victory, the Jets finish second in the Central Division and will have home ice advantage in their first round duel against the Colorado Avalanche.
Nikolaj Ehlers also scored, while Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey had two assists.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 20 shots for the Jets, who will play their final game of the season on Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks.
Yanni Gourde scored and added an assist in the loss. Tomas Tatar and Tye Kartye also found the back of the net for the Kraken. Philipp Grubauer made 20 saves.
Comtois gets a point
Zach Werenski had two goals and two assists, Jet Greaves made 38 saves and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-3.
The Hurricanes, who finished second in the Metropolitan Division, gave eight regular players on their roster a night off.
The Hurricanes had the second-best record (52-23-7, 111 points) in the Eastern Conference, behind the New York Rangers.
This is the sixth straight year the Hurricanes have qualified for the playoffs.
The Blue Jackets missed the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.
Luca Del Bel Belluz scored in his first NHL game.
James Malatesta, Johnny Gaudreau and Alexander Nylander also scored for the Blue Jackets.
Teuvo Teravainen scored twice and Jesperi Kotkaniemi also found the back of the net for the Hurricanes. Maxime Comtois had an assist on Kotkaniemi’s goal in his first NHL game of the season.
Making his first start since February 29, Spencer Martin stopped 19 shots.
