Who do you suppose is the Toronto Maple Leafs’ offensive leader this season? You probably know it’s not Auston Matthews given that he missed a decent chunk of the campaign, but if you’ve only been paying a little attention to the Maple Leafs then you might be surprised to learn that Mitchell Marner leads Toronto’s scoring race – and it’s not even close. He has 22 goals and 69 points in 78 games, putting him a full 13 points over William Nylander and Matthews, who are tied for second place.
That marks quite the turnaround for Marner, given his somewhat quiet start to the season. From the start of the campaign through Dec. 6, Marner had two goals and 16 points in 28 games, which put him in seventh place among the Maple Leafs’ scoring race at the time. He’s turned around substantially since then, but he’s found another level lately with five goals and 16 points through his current 11-game point streak.
It’s made this summer’s contract situation all the more interesting for the Maple Leafs. Nylander will become a restricted free agent so he absolutely needs to be re-signed, but this summer Toronto will also have its first opportunity to lock up Matthews and Marner. Among the trio, there was a time when it would have been fair to assume that Marner would be the cheapest or perhaps the one that was most expendable if it came to that. Now that’s far less clear. Just how much will Nylander, Marner, and Matthews be costing the Maple Leafs in a couple years?
TORONTO 5 NY ISLANDERS 4
Auston Matthews scored the game-winning goal and registered an assist. He’s up to 31 goals and 56 points in 58 games this season.
Mitchell Marner also had a goal and an assist for Toronto. That gives him 22 goals and 69 points in 78 contests.
Brock Nelson found the back of the net and registered an assist for the Islanders. He has 19 goals and 33 points in 78 games.
Christopher Gibson stopped 27 of 32 Maple Leafs shots. He has a 2-3-2 record, 3.65 GAA, and .908 save percentage in eight starts this season.
At the other end of the ice, Frederik Andersen turned aside 29 of 33 shots. He’s 37-20-5 with a 2.83 GAA and .917 save percentage in 64 starts.
TAMPA BAY 7 NY RANGERS 3
Dan Girardi found the back of the net for Tampa Bay. It was the blueliners first game back in Madison Square Garden since he was bought out by the Rangers and signed by Tampa Bay over the summer.
Cedric Paquette scored two goals, including the game-winner, and registered an assist. He has five goals and nine points in 52 games.
Brayden Point netted a pair of goals for Tampa Bay. That gives him 30 goals and 64 points in 78 contests.
Steven Stamkos accumulated 19 penalty minutes, which is a career-high for him. The Lightning forward took exception to a hit Pavel Buchnevich dished out on Nikita Kucherov. Stamkos got five minutes for fighting Buchnevich, two minutes as the instigator, and a 10-minute misconduct. He had also picked up a two-minute boarding penalty earlier in the first period. At the end of the day, Stamkos now has 72 penalty minutes this season to go along with his 27 goals and 86 points.
Louis Domingue turned aside 28 of 31 Rangers shots. He has a 7-9-0 record, 3.44 GAA, and .892 save percentage in 18 contests.
Filip Chytil scored a goal for the Rangers. It was his first career goal and second point in five games.
Ondrej Pavelec surrendered six goals on a staggering 49 shots. He faced at least 13 shots in each period.
CAROLINA 4 WASHINGTON 1
Michal Kempny netted the Hurricanes’ lone goal. It was his second marker and eighth point in 49 games.
Derek Ryan found the back of the net and recorded an assist. That gives him 14 goals and 35 points in 76 contests.
Justin Faulk scored the game-winning goal. He’s up to eight goals and 31 points in 75 games.
Scott Darling kicked out 20 of 21 Capitals shots. That ended his run of four straight starts where he surrendered at least three goals.
Meanwhile, Braden Holtby was charged with three goals over 29 shots. He has a 32-16-4 record, 3.01 GAA, and .907 save percentage in 52 starts.
COLORADO 5 CHICAGO 0
There was a dark cloud over this decisive win for the Avalanche. Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves, but he had to leave the contest at 13:31 of the third period after Chicago’s Tomas Jurco crashed into him. Varlamov appeared to hurt his leg and he needed to be helped off the ice. Jonathan Bernier took over and stopped three shots to complete the shutout.
Artem Anisimov tied for Chicago’s team-high with four shots. He has 20 goals on 126 shots this season, which is good for a 15.9% success rate.
Sven Andrighetto scored two goals, including the game-winner. That gives him eight markers and 21 points in 46 games.
Tyson Barrie scored a goal and registered two assists. He has 13 goals and 55 points in 64 games in 2017-18.
Collin Delia stopped 31 of 36 Avalanche shots. The 23-year-old rookie has a 1-1-0 record, 3.96 GAA, and .889 save percentage in two starts.
ANAHEIM 2 LOS ANGELES 1 (OT)
Drew Doughty netted the Kings’ lone goal. It was his 10th marker and 58th point in 79 games.
Rickard Rakell accounted for the overtime winner. He has 32 goals and 66 points in 73 games.
Ondrej Kase assisted on both of Anaheim’s goals. He has 18 goals and 36 points in 62 contests in 2017-18.
John Gibson kicked out 28 of 29 Kings shots. He’s 31-18-7 record with a 2.43 GAA and .926 save percentage in 59 starts.
Jonathan Quick kicked out 31 of 33 shots Friday night. He has a 31-27-3 record, 2.37 GAA, and .923 save percentage in 61 contests.
VEGAS 4 ST. LOUIS 3 (OT)
The Blues wouldn’t have gotten a point if not for Chris Thorburn, who scored the game-tying goal at 6:14 of the third frame. It was his first goal and seventh point in 45 games this season.
Jonathan Marchessault ended up scoring the overtime winner just 22 seconds into bonus time though. It was his second goal of the game, giving him 27 markers and 75 points in 75 games.
William Karlsson found the back of the net and registered two assists for Vegas. He has 41 goals and 73 points in 78 games.
Malcolm Subban turned aside 21 of 24 Blues shots. This was his first victory since Jan. 5, though he only had three starts between his wins.
