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For those concerned that Auston Matthews was not playing up to expectations this season, the reigning Hart Trophy winner is providing a bit of relief. The two-time Rocket Richard winner extended his goal-scoring streak to four games, scoring twice in a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.
Mitch Marner and Mark Giordano also scored for Toronto (who gained two points on Tampa Bay in the race for second place in the Atlantic), and Ilya Samsonov made 37 saves in the Leafs second straight win on home ice.
Samsonov was the primary reason why the game remained scoreless after 20 minutes, making 16 saves in the opening period before Toronto got in gear. It took Matthews only eight seconds into the middle frame to give the Leafs the lead, undressing Mark Scheifele before snapping a wrist shot past Connor Hellebuyck. Matthews extended the lead to two on another setup from Michael Bunting less than four minutes later, and Marner’s shorthanded marker later in the second effectively deflated the Jets.
“I loved how Auston went out and took charge of the game to start the second period. I thought that was excellent. I thought we were good from there. We were not perfect; that is a good team on the other side that was pushing and not making it easy on us.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “(Auston) has had some really good (performances). It is probably the game that looked the closest to him last year in terms of him being dangerous and the way the puck went into the net. He could’ve had four or five tonight.”
The Leafs have not enjoyed the benefit of a long-scoring tear from their best sniper. With the pair of tallies, Matthews moved into a tie for 15th in the NHL with Matthew Tkachuk but is 15 goals behind Connor McDavid in the race for the Rocket.
With a solid performance in relief of Matt Murray on Tuesday and a superb outing against the Jets, it will be curious to see if Keefe sticks with Samsonov when the Leafs take on the Montreal Canadiens at Centre Bell on Saturday or goes back to Matt Murray coming off giving up four goals on eight shots against the Panthers.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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