Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews fell short of reaching the 70 goal mark against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 17.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Auston Matthews failed in his attempt to score his 70th goal on Wednesday as the Maple Leafs were defeated 6-4 by the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena.
One final goal would have put an exclamation point on a prolific campaign in which Matthews fell just shy of achieving a feat that had not been accomplished in more than 30 years.
The outcome of the contest was meaningless with the exception of Matthews chasing a 70th goal and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov pursuing a historic milestone of 100 assists.
Kucherov had a goal and an assist and ended the season with 44 goals and an NHL-leading 144 points. He is only the fifth player to reach the century mark in assists and the first winger to do it. Edmonton’s Connor McDavid got his 100th on Monday against San Jose.
Matthews’s parents were at the game, as were many Maple Leaf fans, who travelled to Florida hoping to see him score No. 70.
The Leafs did their best to get the puck to Matthews, even pulling goalie Martin Jones with three minutes to go to help Matthews reach the 70-goal mark.
The game was the final dress rehearsal for both teams before the playoffs start this weekend. Toronto, which lost for the fourth game in a row, faces the Bruins in the first round with the first game in Boston on Saturday night. Tampa Bay faces intrastate rivals, the Florida Panthers, beginning on Sunday in Sunrise.
Matthews was trying to be just the ninth player to get 70 in a season in NHL history and the first to accomplish the feat since 1992-93, when Teemu Selanne of the Winnipeg Jets and Alexander Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabres each finished with 76. He would have also become the first American-born player to reach that level.
The 26-year-old had already scored the most goals in any season since Mario Lemieux netted 69 for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1996, the year before Matthews was born. In 2021-22, he became the first Maple Leaf to ever get 60.
He entered Wednesday with 10 goals in the previous nine games and also had a club-record 107 points in 80 outings.
“I try to take the same approach every game,” Matthews said after notching his 69th goal against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. He had not spoken publicly since then. “I try not to overthink things.”
Matthews took seven of Toronto’s 16 shots in the first period but was unable to beat Matt Tomkins, who was making his sixth NHL start in Tampa Bay’s net. He ended up with 11 shots on net and 18 in the last two games without success.
Matthews had five shots on net on Tuesday but was shut out against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise. That ended an eight-game goal streak. He struck for his 69th in Saturday’s overtime loss at home to the Detroit Red Wings. As of Wednesday he had a franchise record 107 points over 80 games.
He will finish the season as the NHL goals leader. Sam Reinhart of Florida was second with 57 and Zach Hyman, who played later Wednesday for Edmonton, has 54.
Kucherov entered the evening in a quest for his 100th assist. He got it in the second period when he fed Brayden Point a pass in front of the net on a power play.
Nick Paul put Tampa Bay ahead early in the first period when he tapped a shot passed Jones after Toronto turnover in its own end. Kucherov staked the Lightning to a 2-0 advantage with 13:46 to go in the first with his 44th goal.
Marty Klinkenberg