Nylander, Matthews power Leafs past Canucks 4-2

VANCOUVER: William Nylander had a goal and an assist, and Auston Matthews scored to extend his season-opening road point streak to eight games in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Saturday.

Former Canucks forwards Zack MacEwen and Teddy Blueger also scored for the Leafs (8-6-2), who were coming off consecutive road losses, the NHL said in its game recap. Anthony Stolarz made 26 saves. Brock Boeser and Max Sasson scored for Vancouver (3-12-1), and Leevi Merilainen made 24 saves. The Canucks are 1-11-1 in their past 13 games.

Nylander put Toronto ahead 1-0 on a breakaway at 1:23 of the first period after Canucks defenceman Jamie Oleksiak was caught reaching to break up a Toronto breakout pass. Nylander cut across the crease on his forehand and chipped a backhand over Merilainen’s glove.

Boeser tied it 1-1 at 10:30 on a power-play breakaway. He took a pass from Filip Hronek inside his own zone, skated in alone from the Toronto blue line, got Stolarz to commit on a fake shot and lifted the puck into the open net.

The Leafs then had consecutive power plays that included 1:08 of 5-on-3, but Merilainen made saves on Matthews and teammates’ hard shots to kill the two-man advantage and keep the game tied.

Matthews put Toronto ahead 2-1 at 3:47 of the second period with a one-touch shot along the ice and under the pads of Merilainen, finishing a passing play from the left face-off circle. MacEwen made it 3-1 at 12:34 when his point shot bounced out of Merilainen’s glove, off the back of defenceman Luke Schenn and in.

Sasson pulled the Canucks to 3-2 at 9:27 of the third period by chipping a rebound over Stolarz’s right pad in tight, after a Brendan Gallagher shot through traffic. Blueger, who also had an assist, scored into an empty net on a 2-on-1 pass from Nylander at 18:24 to make it 4-2.

The final score was also reported by CBS Sports and Sportsnaut. Some listings showed the Leafs at 7-6-2, which was their record before the game; the NHL lists them at 8-6-2 after the win.

Toronto’s road schedule has been uneven. See our earlier reports: Montour’s late goal lifts Kraken past Leafs 5-4 and Gridin scores twice as Flames beat Maple Leafs 5-2.

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