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It was a bad night for former Leaf Gus Bodnar, as the trio of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander eclipsed a number of his scoring records in a 4-2 Toronto Maple Leafs victory over the New Jersey Devils at Air Canada Centre on Thursday.
Bodnar was a two-time Cup winner who won the Calder Trophy with a 62-point campaign in 1943-44 and held most of the Leafs rookie scoring marks.
With an assist on Josh Leivo’s opening goal, winger William Nylander registered a point in his 10th consecutive game, passing Bodnar, Bob Nevin and Dan Daoust’s rookie mark of nine straight.
Nylander also scored in his third straight game with his 21st of the season late in the first period.
Mitch Marner’s helper on James van Riemsdyk’s eventual game-winner early in the second gave the 19-year-old 40 assists on the season, tying Bodnar’s rookie mark that lasted 73 years.
“It's pretty cool(to tie the record), especially the team you grow up watching. But, at the same time, there's still a lot of work to do here and we need these wins big.” Marner said following the game. “You can't focus on yourself and points, you've got to focus on the team and what you can do to help.”
Auston Matthews is also on the verge of breaking some club records. The 2016 top pick assisted on Leivo and Nylander’s goals, temporarily moving him into a tie for the NHL rookie points lead (Patrik Laine scored his 34th goal in a loss to Los Angeles).
Matthews is on pace to best Peter Ihnacak rookie points record of 66 points from 1982-83 and Wendel Clark’s 34 goals as a rookie in 1985-86.
Leafs coach Mike Babcock cared less about the young group reaching milestones and more about the positive direction of the club, who are 3-0-1 in their last four games and moved three points in front of the Bruins with their win and Boston’s 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay.
“We just want to get in. I don't care when you peak or any of that stuff, I just want to get in the playoffs to give ourselves a chance. We're playing better right now and finding a way to win games and that's what we have to continue to do.” Babcock said. “Last year, I didn't look at the standings one time and now I look at it every single day. Obviously, there must be a reason to look at them. We have an opportunity and we just want to keep playing.”
Toronto completes a stretch of three games in four nights with a Saturday night road game against the Buffalo Sabres at Key Bank Center.
Buffalo has been nearly an impossible place for the Leafs to win (28-62-6-6 all-time, 2-17-1 in the last 20 games vs. the Sabres), but Frederik Andersen was spectacular in a 2-1 victory on November 3, making 42 saves.
The Leafs will again be without defenseman Roman Polak, who will be serving the second game of a two-game suspension for a hit on Columbus forward Oliver Bjorkstrand on Wednesday.
Buffalo will also be short-handed, as blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen was suspended for three games on Thursday for a hit on Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel.
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