NIFTY 50: Auston Matthews hits goal milestone as Maple Leafs crush Jets

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Auston Matthews is at 50 goals, but wants to save some for the playoffs.

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In becoming the fourth Leaf to reach the milestone on Thursday night — and the first since Dave Andreychuk in 1994 — Matthews knows the achievement, likely enhanced by breaking Rick Vaive’s club record of 54 the next few games, means little if the Leafs as a whole don’t make any post-season noise. Of the Leafs’ previous 50-goal men, Vaive and Gary Leeman never got past the first round, while Andreychuk added 17 more goals in two springs when they advanced to the semi-finals.

“I understand. I’m excited for the opportunity,” he said before Thursday’s 7-3 win over Winnipeg. “But it’s not something at the top of my list. The main goal for us is to produce wins.”

The home crowd chanted “we want 50” much of the night, but Matthews needed an empty with 2:06 to play in his last Scotiabank Arena appearance before the Leafs play four straight away. It wasn’t for lack of trying to score the big one at even strength or on five power plays, while Toronto used the high energy in the house to gain revenge for a one-sided loss to the Jets in December.

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Teammates went looking for Matthews all night. He nearly broke his stick fanning on one blast and Eric Comrie stopped a couple point blank. But it was William Nylander getting two goals with the man advantage, while reaching a career-best 62 points. That was part of a three-goal Leafs burst in the middle period that included goals by John Tavares annd Ilya Mikheyev’s fourth shorthanded this year, a breakaway set up by Pierre Engvall.

Though it ranked as a marquee game for the locals, the Jets had used No. 1 Connor Hellebuyck the night before in a shootout win in Buffalo and with a conference game coming on Saturday against Los Angeles, went with Comrie. He was trying to avoid becoming the second Jets’ keeper to give up a Leafs’ 50th, Bob Essensa victimized by Andreychuk in 1993. Comrie was working with a 2-0 lead until Mark Giordano’s centering feed struck a Jet and went in, his first from him as a hometowner.

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Erik Kallgren was dealing with both a hard-pressing Jets’ team and some sloppy play from dunks around his net. Blake Wheeler had stepped around falling veteran defender Giordano on the first goal, the other was a sharp backboard rebound that Kallgren couldn’t pick up fast enough. He did make a couple of sharp saves from turnovers in a lighter workload than Comrie in earning his fourth win in seven games.

While Matthews needed that one goal, a few forwards needed to redeem themselves in the eyes of coach Sheldon Keefe.

Wayne Simmonds was back after being scratched for the road game in Boston, usually an ideal situation for him in a hostile environment. He played fourth-line flank with Kyle Clifford and center Jason Spezza, after center/winger Colin Blackwell made a huge impression there after arriving in a trade from Seattle.

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“We want to get these three veterans an opportunity in a very hard and competitive game,” Keefe said in the morning. “Those three played (in a 6-3 road loss to the Jets in December) and it didn’t go so well. All three have to continue to get better.”

Simmonds was marginalized soon after being feted for his 1,000th NHL game.

“Naturally you get upset and look for answers,” he said. “I know I have to play better. That’s up to me.”

Simmonds showed the required jump and noted the Jets and others take extra relish in beating the big-market Leafs, home or away.

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“It’s Toronto, kind of the center of hockey. When I played Toronto (as part of five other clubs), I wanted to crush them.”

Lingering from their last meeting in December was Spezza’s six-game suspension (reduced to four upon appeal) for kneeing Neal Pionk, who in turn sat two for sparking the rough stuff by kneeing Rasmus Sandin. While the most effective of the three fourth liners as an all-round player, Spezza’s point production has slipped.

With defenseman Ilya Lyabushkin out, Carl Dahlstrom was called up from the Marlies to partner Timothy Liljegren and assisted on Tavares’s goal. Other pairs were changed around, TJ Brodie now with Morgan Rielly, Giordano with Justin Holl.

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