Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo reacts while Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews celebrates a goal during the third period. The Maple Leafs won 7-3 on Feb. 22, 2024, in Las Vegas.Ian Maule/The Associated Press
Auston Matthews scored again to continue his sizzling surge, Max Domi had two goals, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Vegas Golden Knights 7-3 on Thursday night for their sixth straight win.
“We’ve played good hockey over the course of the season, but we haven’t put together a stretch like this,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.
Jake McCabe, David Kampf, John Tavares and Pontus Holmberg also scored for Toronto. Martin Jones had 23 saves.
“Obviously, our stars are confident in their game, but confidence can be fleeting in this league,” McCabe said. “But when everyone’s been confident like we are currently, it’s a scary thing. You just have to keep it going.”
Matthews stretched his goal streak to five games with 10 goals and 13 points over that stretch. On Wednesday at Arizona, Matthews set a new record for the fastest U.S.-born player to reach 50 goals in a season, reaching that mark in 54 games. He has an NHL-best 52 goals this season.
Mitchell Marner had two assists to extend his point streak to five games, giving him 13 over that stretch. William Nylander extended his point streak to six games. Domi’s two goals brought him with a point of 400 for his career.
“We have everyone going right now,” Domi said. “Everyone’s involved and everyone’s playing and everyone’s taking short shifts. Those are the things that are winning hockey, and that’s what we’re doing right now.”
Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and assist for the Golden Knights, and William Karlsson and Michael Amadio each scored a goal. Shea Theodore picked up two assists. Vegas has lost four of five games, with each defeat coming at home.
Toronto took charge early, going up 4-0 in a wide-open first period in which both teams combined for 37 shots on goal, including 23 by the Maple Leafs.
Four different skaters scored for Toronto, chasing Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill with 5:40 left in the period after he surrendered three goals on 19 shots. Hill, whose play in net was critical in Vegas’ run to the Stanley Cup last season, has lost four starts in a row.
But it wasn’t just on Hill. Less than two minutes after Logan Thompson took Hill’s place, he allowed a rebound goal to Domi.
“We need to do better in front of our home crowd,” Knights defenceman Alex Pietrangelo said. “When you get down by four goals, it’s tough to come back from that. We did claw back.”
Karlsson puts the Knights on the scoreboard 51 seconds into the second period, giving him a season-high three game goal streak. But the Leafs struck back twice on goals from Domi and Holmberg to snuff out any chance of a comeback.
Not that Vegas didn’t try. Marchessault and Amadio scored 1:25 into the third period to bring the Knights to 6-3. It was Amadio third game in a row with a goal.
Matthews, however, scored on a redirect midway through the period for a four-goal advantage.
This was the Knights’ first game since captain and leading scorer Mark Stone suffered an upper-body injury. Coach Bruce Cassidy said Stone is week to week.
Up next
Maple Leafs: At Colorado on Saturday.
Golden Knights: At Ottawa on Saturday.