Wings in OT upper leaves; Matthews scored #69

Toronto –

Dylan Larkin scored on a power play 41 seconds into overtime as the Detroit Red Wings beat Toronto 5-4 on Saturday, with Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews scoring his 69th goal of the season to clinch two crucial points in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Alex DeBrincat scored twice for Detroit (39-32-9), which took a 4-1 lead after the first period. David Perron had a goal and an assist, while Simon Edvinsson provided the rest of the offense. Former Leafs goaltender James Reimer had 32 saves in his 500th game, and J.T. Komfer had two assists.

Larkin deflected Patrick Kane's shot in extra time and Max Domi for a high shot.

Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists, and John Tavares and Nick Robertson scored for Toronto (46-24-10). Ilya Samsonov stopped 28 shots. Morgan Rielly had two assists.

Matthews, who has scored 10 times in his last eight games, is looking to become the first player in more than 30 years to score 70 goals in a season since matching Mario Lemieux's 69 goals in 1995-96.

Detroit entered the game one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second and final wild card in the East, and Toronto's loss dropped the Leafs to No. 3 in the Atlantic Division with two games remaining on their schedule.

Matthews had a few more chances late on the power play. Samsonov then had to stand tall on Detroit's man advantage late in regulation.

As Mathieu touched the puck in search of number 70, the crowd's anticipation grew as the score was tied at 4-4 until Samsonov, who had a rough 20 minutes, stopped Lucas Raymond with nine minutes remaining.

Down 4-1 after 20 minutes, Robertson scored his 14th goal at 9:04 of the second, and Kane received a double-minor for sticking up.

That left room for Matthews, who hit the first post and fired a No. 69 shot past Reimer at 10:23 p.m. inside a deafening Scotiabank Arena.

Mergen almost got his 70th moment after the break, but Reimer closed his mat at the last second.

The Leafs were even at 17:22 when Tavares tallied his 26th of the game when the hosts erased a three-goal deficit in just over eight minutes from Reimer, who was drafted by Toronto in 2006 and played for the Lifters from 2010 to 2016.

Marner opened the scoring at 8:35 of the first when he buried his 26th of the season. William Nylander had a key assist to snap an eight-game drought.

Detroit tied it 2-on-1 at 1:27 when DeBrincat scored his 25th on a layup by Raymond.

At 13:39, the Wings took the lead when Edvinsson finished off Perron for his first.

At 17:37, DeBrincat made it 3-1, and then Samsonov hit a big shot off the wing stick for his second of the night.

Perron then put the visitors up three with less than 20 seconds left when he dribbled his 16th past a Toronto netminder at the near post before his teammates pushed back in the second.

REIM TIME

Selected with the 99th overall pick in the 2006 draft, Reimer played 207 of 500 games with Toronto.

The product of Morvina, Man., was 85-76-23 in six seasons with the Leafs.

Reimer is only the 80th goaltender in NHL history to reach 500 regular season contests.

“A true professional,” Kane said. “Always in a good mood, always trying to be good is a great period.”

LILY IS BACK

Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren (upper body injury) sat out for the first time since March 26. Toronto winger Bobby McMann (lower body) was injured in the first period and did not return. Leafs blueliner Jake McCabe took a puck in the second minute and did not return.

MURRAY TO THE MARLIES

Toronto has assigned goaltender Matt Murray on a conditional loan to the Marlies of the American Hockey League as he continues his comeback from bilateral hip surgery.

The 29-year-old, who is in the final year of his contract, spent the entire season on long-term injured reserve.

NEXT UP

Detroit: Host the Canadiens to close out the regular season on Tuesday before traveling to Montreal on Monday.

Toronto: Visits the Florida Panthers on Tuesday before visiting the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.

This Canadian Press report was first published on April 13, 2024.