Auston Matthews made his return to the lineup on Wednesday night. Toronto took care of business against the Blackhawks with an improved effort against the lottery teams. Below are the highlights from the game.
The Leafs got started early. Right off the opening draw Morgan Reilly found William Nylander with an entry pass. Nylander flew by Jake McCabe and tucked it past Petr Mrazek to make it 1-0 Leafs nine seconds into the game…
That was Willy fast 😎 pic.twitter.com/fm7Q5JQITQ
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 16, 2023
That lead didn’t stand for long. The Blackhawks tied it up less than a minute later. Calle Jarnkrok turned it over in the defensive zone and Sam Lafferty quickly found the back of the net to make it 1-1…
Sam Lafferty joins the early scoring party! 🕺 pic.twitter.com/PpoRe8ohOY
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 16, 2023
Toronto continued to create offence off the draw later in the first. John Tavares won the faceoff in the offensive zone and Rasmus Sandin threw the puck in front. It deflected in for Sandin’s fourth goal of the season…
Pucks on net ¯_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/pplM2jmbRb
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 16, 2023
Matthews doubled their lead shortly after. Nylander circled the zone and found him all alone at the top of the circle. Matthews wired home a wrister to make it 3-1…
AUSTON MATTHEWS!! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/m2JfiYzMtc
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 16, 2023
Chicago started their comeback in the first minute of the second period. They took of advantage of a neutral zone turnover to make it 3-2. Max Domi found Philipp Kurashev and he blasted a one timer glove side…
Kurashev 🚀🚀🚀 pic.twitter.com/KKEv6icCHk
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) February 16, 2023
The Captain brought the Leafs up two later in the second. Mrazek misplayed the puck behind his net and Alex Kerfoot set up Tavares to make it 4-2…
JOHNNY ON THE SPOT! pic.twitter.com/L0mYoHSPAG
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 16, 2023
With four minutes left in the second Nylander and Matthews did work on the forecheck. Matthews got the puck pack to Conor Timmins on the point and he scored his second as a Leaf. 5-2…
I’M YELLIN’ TIMMER 💣 pic.twitter.com/8h0pASISGW
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 16, 2023
Toronto kept the pressure on during the third. Jarnkrok and Kerfoot had a great shorthanded chance but couldn’t finish…
Jarnkrok creates the shorthanded chance but Kerfoot misses on the mid-air bat pic.twitter.com/d4co8FNWGa
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 16, 2023
No goals were scored in the final period. Timmins had the best highlight of the frame stepping off the bench and leveling Lafferty with an open ice hit. It was all Leafs in this one. 5-2 final score.
Conor Timmins stonewalls Lafferty pic.twitter.com/1ELFbdbYdd
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 16, 2023
