NHL Roundup: Auston Matthews’ Return Boosts Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) skates with the puck as Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Jack Johnson (8) defends during the first period at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Feb. 15, 2023. Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports via Field Level Media

Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist in his return after missing five games with a sprained knee, helping the Toronto Maple Leafs earn a 5–2 win over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.

The Maple Leafs went 2-3-0 while Matthews was out.

William Nylander added a goal and two assists for Toronto while Rasmus Sandin and John Tavares each chipped in with a goal and an assist. Conor Timmins added a goal, and the Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov made 27 saves.

Sam Lafferty and Philipp Kurashev scored for the Blackhawks, who have lost the first three games of a four-game trip. Petr Mrazek stopped 37 shots.

Red Wings 5, Oilers 4 (SO)

Dylan Larkin and Robby Fabbri had a goal and an assist apiece, Pius Suter scored the decisive goal in the shootout and Detroit edged host Edmonton.

Moritz Seider and Olli Maatta had Detroit’s other regulation goals, while Ville Husso made 41 saves and stopped three more shots in the shootout. The Red Wings matched their season high by registering a fourth straight victory.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two goals and an assist for the Oilers. Leon Draisaitl and Derek Ryan also scored, while Connor McDavid added two assists to give him 99 points this season. Jack Campbell made 19 saves.

Avalanche 3, Wild 2

Alexandar Georgiev made 41 saves and Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist to lead Colorado to a victory over Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minn.

Andrew Cogliano and Denis Malgin also scored goals for Colorado, which moved two points ahead of the Wild in the battle for third place in the Central Division. Devon Toews added two assists as the Avalanche improved to 9-2-2 over their past 13 games.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored a power-play goal and Kirill Kaprizov also found the net for Minnesota, which fell to 1–4–1 in the past six games. Mats Zuccarello had two assists while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 16 of 19 shots.

Coyotes 1, Lightning 0 (SO)

Clayton Keller scored the deciding goal in a shootout, and Connor Ingram set an NHL record in his first career shutout as Arizona beat Tampa Bay in Tempe, Ariz.

After the Coyotes’ Nick Schmaltz and the Lightning’s Steven Stamkos scored in the first round of the shootout and both teams came up empty in the second round, Keller went forehand-backhand and roofed home a shot for a 2–1 lead. Ingram then denied Nikita Kucherov for the win.

Ingram set a league record by stopping 47 shots in his first career shutout—breaking the record held by teammate Karel Vejmelka, who had 46 on Nov. 29, 2021. Tampa Bay’s Brian Elliott stopped 26 shots.

Sabres 7, Ducks 3

Casey Mittelstadt broke a tie late in the second period and visiting Buffalo went on to beat Anaheim.

Mittelstadt, Tyson Jost, Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch and Dylan Cozens each had a goal and an assist, and Rasmus Dahlin and Jack Quinn each had two assists for the Sabres, who snapped a four-game slide (0-3-1). Tage Thompson and Zemgus Girgensons also scored, and Eric Comrie made 19 saves.

Cam Fowler scored twice, Kevin Shattenkirk had a goal and an assist and Lukas Dostal made 37 saves for the Ducks, who have been outscored 20–8 during a three-game losing streak.

Rangers 6, Canucks 4

Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad both collected two goals and one assist as New York turned back host Vancouver to run its winning streak to six games.

Chris Kreider and K'Andre Miller also scored for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves.

Andrei Kuzmenko collected one goal and one assist for Vancouver, while Curtis Lazar, J.T. Miller and Conor Garland also scored. The Canucks are on a 1–4–1 slide. Lazar and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson left due to lower-body injuries, and goalie Arturs Silovs stopped 22 shots in his NHL debut.