Matthews scores twice for Toronto, which is 4-1-0 in past five games
Eichel extends point streak to 17, Sabres fall to Maple Leafs
via NHL.com
Jack Eichel extended his NHL season-high point streak to 17 games but the Buffalo Sabres lost 5-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
Auston Matthews scored twice, Frederik Gauthier had a goal and an assist, and Frederik Andersen made 27 saves for the Maple Leafs (17-14-4), who are 4-1-0 in their past five games.
Eichel and Rasmus Dahlin each had a goal and an assist, and Linus Ullmark made 28 saves for the Sabres (16-12-7), who had a five-game point streak (3-0-2) end.
Eichel has 31 points (16 goals, 15 assists) during the streak, which is tied for the second-longest in Sabres history with Dave Andreychuk, who had a 17-game streak from Dec. 31, 1991 to Feb. 4, 1992 and Oct. 8 to Nov. 14, 1992. Gilbert Perreault holds the Sabres record at 18 games (Oct. 24-Dec. 4, 1971).
Eichel assisted on Dahlin’s power-play goal at 1:29 of the third period to cut the Toronto lead to 3-1.
Dmytro Timashov put the Maple Leafs up 4-1 on a breakaway at 4:58, but Eichel brought the Sabres back to within 4-2 at 6:30.
Kyle Okposo cut the lead to 4-3 at 14:41, but Ilya Mikheyev made it 5-3 at 17:26, scoring shorthaned into an empty net.
Gauthier intercepted a clearing attempt by Brandon Montour in the slot and shot past Ullmark’s blocker at 2:30 of the first period to put Toronto up 1-0.
Matthews made it 2-0 at 4:47 of the second period, scoring his 20th goal of the season off a cross-ice pass from Morgan Rielly
Matthews extended the lead to 3-0 at 17:39. He took a pass from William Nylander in the high-slot, skated around Conor Sheary and sent a backhand past a sprawling Ullmark.
Auston Matthews is the second player in @MapleLeafs franchise history to score 20+ goals in each of his first 4+ NHL seasons, joining Dave Keon (6 straight from 1960-61 – 1965-66). #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/x4P4dD4M8R
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 18, 2019
Auston Matthews of the @MapleLeafs recorded his 25th career multi-goal game in the regular season, tied for the second-most in League history by a U.S.-born player through their first four NHL campaigns. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/vTx8zMYAAh
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 18, 2019