Leafs win wild one over the Canes, Matthews status in doubt (maple leafs)

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Leafs win wild one over the Canes, Matthews status in doubt

By Mike Augello

Feb 8, 2022 • 7:37 am

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The Toronto Maple Leafs return from the All-Star break was not without excitement, as they surrendered the lead in the third period, but Mitch Marner tied the game and scored again at 2:51 of overtime to give the Leafs a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.

Marner’s pair of goals extended his consecutive games scoring streak to eight. Auston Matthews also scored twice, moving to within two of NHL goal leader Chris Kreider, but the Leafs leading scorer left the game late in regulation after colliding with Canes defenseman Brett Pesce.

The incident was similar in nature to the collision between Corey Perry and Leafs captain John Tavares in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, as the head of a falling Matthews inadvertently made contact with Pesce’s knee. Matthews stayed on the ice for more than a minute before skating to the Leafs locker room to be reviewed by the club’s medical staff and did not return for overtime.

Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe did not provide any update on Matthews after the game, other than it will likely be Wednesday before any definitive word on his status will be known.

“We'll give it some time here to settle down and assess him properly," Keefe said. "I had him taking a scheduled day off anyway, coming back from the All-Star Game. That will give even more time for him to get assessed and make a determination from there."

The win marked the fourth straight for goalie Petr Mrazek, who made 28 saves against his former club in a duel with former Leaf Frederik Andersen. “Well, it is always a little special. A lot of people asked me that early on and I think it’s just another team, another game, and tried to prepare as best I could and get the win and have a good result.… Mrazek said. “I’m (getting) better and better every game. The last few weeks I’ve done a lot of work with Steve Briere and I think the good things we’re doing are showing in the game, so I’m happy how things have progressed.…

The Leafs skated without Matthews at the Ford Performance Centre on Tuesday, but with defenseman Jake Muzzin participating fully. Keefe indicated that he was making progress before ruling him out of Monday’s game and his participation appears to be a good sign that the veteran blueliner would return when Toronto takes on the Flames in Calgary on Thursday.

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