Kerfoot breaks tie in third for Maple Leafs in win against Senators
Matthews extends point streak to 14 for Toronto in second of three-game set
Alexander Kerfoot broke a tie midway through the third period to help the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 2-1 win against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.
Kerfoot collected a loose puck in the slot on a rebound from Jake Muzzin’s point shot and banked a shot off Senators goalie Matt Murray for a 2-1 lead at 10:46.
Auston Matthews scored to extend his point streak to 14 games, and Frederik Andersen made 27 saves for Toronto (12-3-2), which was 0-1-1 after nine-game point streak (8-0-1).
Brady Tkachuk scored, and Murray made 26 saves after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury for Ottawa (4-13-1), which had won two in a row.
The Maple Leafs and Senators have split the first two of the three-game set. They play again here Thursday.
Maple Leafs forward Joe Thornton had two goals disallowed: the first with two seconds left in the first period when it was ruled that he pushed Murray’s right pad into the net; the second at 4:32 of the second period when he deflected Muzzin’s point shot with a high stick.
The Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead at 4:41 of the second period when Matthews one-timed a shot from the right face-off dot after taking a pass from Justin Holl.
Matthews has 20 points (14 goals, six assists) in the streak.
Tkachuk tied it 1-1 at 18:51 when he deflected a pass from Chris Tierney at the top of the goal crease.
Auston Matthews opened the scoring for the @MapleLeafs with his League-leading 14th goal of 2020-21 (14-7—21 in 16 GP) and extended his official point streak to 11 games (12-4—16), the longest in the NHL this season.
Jake Muzzin registered his second assist of the game and the 200th assist of his career on Alex Kerfoot's third period goal. #LeafsForever https://t.co/WhmceZDv1z
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) February 18, 2021
Auston Matthews, who missed the @MapleLeafs’ contest on Jan. 22, has at least one point in each of his last 14 games played – that’s tied for the sixth-longest such run in franchise history. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/oU5PR9xEcJ
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 18, 2021