Maple Leafs fall to Jets without injured Matthews
Kyle Connor scored twice and had an assist to help the Winnipeg Jets defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were without center Auston Matthews, 5-2 at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.
Matthews, who leads the NHL with 32 goals, is day to day with an undisclosed injury.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice, Mark Scheifele had a goal and two assists and Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for the Jets (27-14-3), who have won five of six.
John Tavares had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs (28-12-4), who are 0-2-1 after winning six straight. Jack Campbell was pulled after allowing three goals on six shots. David Rittich made 15 saves in relief.
Alex Galchenyuk put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 at 3:41 of the first period but the Jets responded with three unanswered goals before the end of the first period to take a three-goal lead.
Ehlers tied it 1-1 at 10:45 before Connor scored 27 seconds later to put the Jets up 2-1.
Scheifele scored on a breakaway at 13:54 to make it 3-1.
Toronto had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:11 starting at 12:26 of the first period but did not score.
Tavares cut the lead to 3-2 at 6:47 of the second period when he redirected a pass from Jason Spezza at the top of the goal crease. Tavares has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past seven games.
Ehlers made it 4-2 at 5:34 of the third period when he stole the puck from Mitchell Marner at the blue line, leaving him in alone on Rittich.
Connor put the Jets up 5-2 with 37 seconds left when he scored into an empty net.
Maple Leafs forward Nick Robertson has recorded his first NHL regular season point with an assist on John Tavares’ second period goal. #LeafsForever
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) April 16, 2021