Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews needs one more goal to become just the ninth single-season 70-goal scorer in the 106-year history of the NHL.
Matthews will try to get that goal Tuesday night when the Leafs (46-24-10, 102 points) visit the Florida Panthers (51-24-6, 108) in Sunrise, Fla., in a matchup of playoff-bound teams.
The game will serve as a bit of a rematch and a possible preview.
It’s a rematch because the Panthers eliminated the Leafs in five games in the second round of the playoffs last year. Tuesday’s game will be a 2024 first-round playoff preview if the Panthers finish second to the Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division.
Toronto, which is locked into third place, is led by Matthews, who is on an eight-game goal streak, tied with Florida’s Sam Reinhart as the longest run in the league this season.
The NHL hasn’t had a 70-goal scorer since the 1992-93 season, when Alexander Mogilny and Teemu Selanne each scored 76 goals.
“My process is the same every night,” Matthews said. “When you overthink things and want it too much, things usually don’t go your way.”
The other players who have at least 70 goals in one season are Wayne Gretzky (four times), Brett Hull (three), Mario Lemieux (twice) and Phil Esposito, Jari Kurri and Bernie Nicholls (once each).
If Matthews doesn’t get No. 70 on Tuesday, he will have another chance in Wednesday’s regular-season finale at Tampa Bay.
Meanwhile, the Leafs hope to break a two-game losing streak against a Florida squad that ranks No. 2 in the NHL in fewest average goals allowed (2.42).
For the Panthers, this will be the regular-season finale.
Reinhart, who will be an unrestricted free agent after this season, has had a career year, leading the league by a wide margin with 27 power-play goals.
Overall, Reinhart — with 55 goals — entered this week trailing only Matthews for the NHL lead.
The Panthers, who have won three straight games, are looking forward to the playoffs.
“We’re excited about the challenge ahead,” Reinhart said. “It’s starting for real pretty soon. At the end of the day, it’s a battle. It’s a war — and we’re looking forward to that.”
The Panthers have another star in goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who on Saturday won his 700th NHL game, beating Buffalo 3-2.
“It’s an incredible accomplishment,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
Bobrovsky leads all Eastern Conference goalies in wins (36-17-4, 2.37 goals-against average). Panthers backup goalie Anthony Stolarz — named Florida’s 2023-24 “Unsung Hero” last week — has had a superb season, going 15-7-2 with a 2.03 GAA.
On the other side, the Leafs have three goalies with at least 18 starts this season. That list comprises Ilya Samsonov (23-7-8, 3.13 GAA); Joseph Woll (12-10-1, 2.88) and Martin Jones (11-7-1, 2.70).
No matter who starts for the Leafs Tuesday, that goalie will have to be wary of Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov.
Tkachuk leads the Panthers with 60 assists. Barkov, one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL, is second with 55.
The Panthers received a dose of good news as Maurice said second-leading goal scorer Carter Verhaeghe will return for Tuesday’s game.
Verhaeghe (33 goals) suffered an upper-body injury April 1 against Toronto and wasn’t expected to return until the opener of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Florida defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (upper body) has not played since Saturday and won’t be in the lineup Tuesday, per Maurice.
–Field Level Media
