Matthews scores again, Maple Leafs edge Kraken

Auston Matthews scored again for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who handed the Seattle Kraken their fourth straight loss with a 3-1 win at Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday.

Matthews has scored five goals and has eight points in his past four games.

“Some of the plays he makes, he’s going through traffic and the puck just sticks to his stick,” Maple Leafs forward Max Domi said. “Or he kicks it up or does something outrageous. It’s crazy to think that we’re just getting used to seeing it, but every shift he’s doing something, and he’s always a threat.”

Nicholas Robertson also scored for the Maple Leafs (23-14-8), who were coming off a 6-4 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Ilya Samsonov, who was making his second start since he was recalled from the American Hockey League on Jan. 10, made 16 saves for his first win since Dec. 9.

“[Samsonov has] been grinding away,” Robertson said. “I think he’s just been on the opposite side of luck. … He’s a great goaltender, too, so for him to get rewarded like that, and [after] working and going through this rough patch, it’s good to see, and I hope he can build on it.”

Said Samsonov: “I think October to a couple of weeks ago until this time is probably hardest in my life. But life was moving forward. I’m staying positive.”

Jordan Eberle scored, and Joey Daccord made 23 saves for the Kraken (19-18-9).

“If you really break it down, they took advantage of one more scoring opportunity than we did,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “They’re going to be a challenge to play against because of the octane that they have and the way that they can get up ice.”

Matthews made it 1-0 at 7:06 of the first period with his NHL-leading 38th goal of the season. He received a pass from Mitchell Marner, who was below the goal line, at the top of the crease, stick-handled between his legs, and scored with a backhand past Daccord’s left pad.

“It’s just really good anticipation by [Marner], I think,” Matthews said. “I think when we’re on the same page like that, you can just kind of see the play happening, and I think we both know where each other are at on the ice. And so he just made an unbelievable play to me. I had a little bit of time to hang onto it and make a play to the backhand.”

Robertson pushed it to 2-0 at 2:51 of the second period with a one-timer off a rush. Tyler Bertuzzi started the play with a saucer pass to Domi, who then slid the puck under Kraken defenseman Brian Dumoulin’s stick to Robertson in the low slot.

“That’s all Bertuzzi,” Domi said. “It was just the end of a power play, so we had a lot of speed coming down on the entry and their ‘D’ kind of has to respect [Bertuzzi]. He’s obviously on his forehand, and [the defense] bit, and he threw a great little baby sauce there to me. I had all the time in the world to just kind of hold onto it until the ‘D’ committed, and obviously ‘Robbie’ took care the rest.”

Robertson had been a healthy scratch in Toronto’s previous three games.

“[Robertson is] going to give you everything he has, and at a time when you haven’t used him on the trip, he’s going to have more in the tank than anyone else,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I loved every second that he played.”

Eberle got the Kraken to within 2-1 at 14:03 of the second. Tomas Tatar’s shot hit Jared McCann in front, and he tapped the puck to Eberle, who scored past Samsonov’s left pad.

“We have to find a way to score,” Eberle said. “Especially when the last few games we’re fighting it a bit at 5-on-5, the power play has to be a big part of that if you want to turn this around.”

Jake McCabe scored an empty-net goal with 21 seconds left in the third for the 3-1 final.

“I thought we had the puck a lot tonight,” Keefe said. “I thought with the exception of a few times in the second period, I thought we managed it really well. But because we had the puck a lot, I think that really helped us, and we defended and checked hard when we needed to.”