Even now, when Auston Matthews gets to play Alex Ovechkin, one of his childhood idols, he gets pumped.
Furthermore, despite Ovechkin writing a classic performance, Matthews managed to take center stage.
Despite Ovechkin getting closer to Wayne Gretzky, Matthews led the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 7-3 victory over the
Washington Capitals on Wednesday night with his NHL-leading 56th and 57th goals of the season and tied his career
high with five points. Matthews’ quest to score his first 70 goals in over thirty years is back on track in the interim.
Forward Bobby McMann of the Toronto Maple Leafs commented, “It’s always fun to watch when the best in the
world are going at it like that.” “It’s cool to see, but it’s nice that we came out on the right side of it.”
After an unachievable extended stretch, Ovechkin scored goals 844 and 845 of his career to pull 50 goals shy of
matching Gretzky’s record. Having scored just eight goals in his first 43 games of the season, he has already scored
fifteen since January 22 to bring his total to 23.
Matthews remarked, “We’re all kind of running out of words to describe it.” “Being the all-time greatest goal scorer,
it’s always enjoyable to play against him and witness his accomplishments, as well as the thrill and fervor he receives
when he scores a goal. Naturally, we would prefer that he not score against us, but when you’re that excellent,
opportunities will present themselves, and he typically takes advantage of them.
With two goals — and a third that was on the verge of a hat trick disallowed due to a coach’s appeal for offside —
Matthews is eight goals away from matching Ovechkin’s career-high season of 65 from 2007–08, the highest since
the salary cap era in the league started in 2005.
Referring to Matthews’ jersey number, “No. 34,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery stated, “Obviously, we had zero
answer for No. 34 tonight.”
Even though Ovechkin and Matthews scored four goals together, showcasing the finest goal scorer of this generation
and possibly his successor, they weren’t the only ones to light up the scoreboard. Washington’s other goal came from
Connor McMichael, while Toronto’s goals came from Tyler Bertuzzi, John Tavares, Jake McCabe, William Nylander,
and McMann in a thrilling comeback from a 4-3 deficit.
Max Domi, who earned four assists, stated, “We found a way to answer it as a group, and I thought everyone did a
great job of that from the first shift.” “Had everyone going, and when we play like that, we’re a difficult team to beat.”
In a high-stakes, high-scoring hockey match that was unfriendly to the goalies, Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves for
the Capitals and Joseph Woll made 18 for the Leafs. The Capitals, whose winning streak ended at three, were unable
to get back into the postseason. In the Eastern Conference, they are one point behind Detroit for the second and final
wild-card place.
Nobody promised that it would be simple, according to Ovechkin.
The Caps suffered a loss despite not having forward Aliaksei Protas and winger T.J. Oshie due to injuries. Veteran
defenseman T.J. Brodie was a healthy scratch, but Toronto enforcer Ryan Reaves was also sidelined following a fight
in Philadelphia on Tuesday night after getting stabbed in the right eye.
