Field Level Media
06 Jan 2026, 06:55 GMT+10
(Photo credit: Thomas Salus-Imagn Images)
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews will return home Tuesday night to play the Florida Panthers on a roll that has made him the team's all-time leading scoring leader.
Matthews has six goals and four assists over his past four games. He scored twice in a 4-3 overtime road loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday to reach 421 career goals and move one past Mats Sundin for the most goals in team history.
Matthews' surge has helped the Maple Leafs record points in six consecutive games (4-0-2).
'I've been feeling good for the past couple of weeks, having the puck more,' Matthews said. 'I'm trying to use my speed, use my legs to create some chances.'
The Maple Leafs have had problems maintaining leads, however, and it happened again Saturday when the Islanders tied the game twice in the third period, the second time at 17:15 to force overtime.
'Going into the third period, I didn't think we pushed enough for the third goal,' Toronto coach Craig Berube said. 'I thought we didn't have the puck enough and sat back a little too much. And we ended up getting a point out of the game. But for me, I think we could have had two. I just think we didn't stay on our toes in the third.'
Berube said Monday that Jake McCabe could miss up to a week with a lower-body injury. The defenseman did not finish Saturday's game. Another defenseman, Brandon Carlo, could return Tuesday from foot surgery.
William Nylander (lower-body injury) was put on injured reserve Monday, but it is retroactive to Dec. 27 and he could return soon. Defenseman Marshall Rifai was recalled from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
The Panthers, who are 3-3-1 over the past seven games, will open a six-game road trip riding the crest of a 2-1 home victory Sunday that snapped the Colorado Avalanche's 10-game winning streak and 13-game points streak (12-0-1).
Despite a growing injury list, the Panthers defeated the Avalanche behind the 27-save goaltending performance of Daniil Tarasov.
Defenseman Seth Jones was out with an upper-body injury sustained in the first period of the 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Friday. Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Monday that Jones is week-to-week but should return before the Olympic break next month.
The Panthers injuries already included Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich, Dmitry Kulikov and Cole Schwindt.
'That's the theme of our year, clearly,' Maurice said. 'Every year has something. This year is about having to overcome these injuries. Figure out a way to win without your best players. But if you can do that, there's a pretty good prize at the end.'
It made the victory on Sunday that much more impressive for the Panthers.
'That was a big, big game for us,' Maurice said. 'Losing Seth and playing the most dynamic team in the league, the goalie is going to be an important player in that and Tarasov was. We played hard, we played right, did a lot of really good things to keep them from being as explosive as they can be.'
'Obviously that's a tough game for them on a back-to-back, so we used that to our advantage,' said Sam Bennett, who scored the opening goal in the first period. 'I thought we had a pretty good jump, put some good pressure on them early, and didn't give them a lot of space.'
--Field Level Media
Get a daily dose of Denver Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Denver Sun.
More InformationHAVANA, Cuba - Cuba has confirmed that 32 of its military and police officers were killed during an attack on a Venezuelan military...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: The year 2025 has been a rough one for journalists in the U.S. and many regions of the world. The number...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. President Donald Trump's ability to unilaterally impose far-reaching tariffs has given rise to skepticism among...
HONG KONG: China has begun taxing contraceptive drugs and devices from the start of 2026, ending a tax exemption that had been in place...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Zohran Mamdani took his midnight oath of office on a centuries-old Quran, making him the first New York City...
While Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife are being shipped to a Federal prison in New York City, after being abducted...
PACIFIC GROVE, California: A 55-year-old woman whose body was found days after she had gone missing in a shark last week off the Northern...
(Photo credit: Thomas Salus-Imagn Images) Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews will return home Tuesday night to play the...
(Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images) Fourteen NFL teams and their fan bases are looking forward to the playoffs, but for everyone...
(Photo credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images) The matchup Tuesday night on Florida's Gulf Coast comes down to this: It's the NHL's...
(Photo credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images) Quarterback Russell Wilson said he suffered a torn hamstring ahead of New York's...
(Photo credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images) The Tennessee Titans have requested interviews with four current NFL coordinators to fill...
