Just a few short hours after Boston Bruins' David Pastrnak took the lead in the Rocket Richard Trophy race, Auston Matthews said, "hold on there, Pasta" — and matched him atop the leaderboard yet again.
Pastrnak scored his 42nd at TD Garden in his team's 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on a nifty rush and dish from linemate Brad Marchand.
I mean come on. 42 for David Pastrnak #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/FZFcNZlGw1
— Bruins Diehards (@BruinsDiehards) February 15, 2020
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But then, in the first period of the latest edition of the 'Battle of Ontario' — a tilt between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators — Matthews chased down the puck in the left circle before tickling the twine. His quick shot squeezed between the wickets of rookie netminder Marcus Hogberg to give the Leafs a 1-0 lead in a game they would eventually win 4-2.
"I just tried to wait him out and then saw a little bit of an opening and just tried to sneak it in there so that’s about it," he told reporters after the game.
Starting strong 💪#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/FzfnhBqmkm
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 16, 2020
Matthews potted his 41st on Thursday and with Saturday's tally, now has five goals in his last six games. Surprisingly, No. 42 is only the 12th goal the Leafs forward has scored on the road and Zach Hyman's primary assist marked just the third time he earned the first helper. It is also Matthews' 13th career goal against Ottawa which is the team he has victimized the most in the NHL.
The 2016 first-overall pick continues to build on a career year; he scored 40 in his rookie season. He now has 71 points in 59 games — after adding an assist on Mitchell Marner's goal — and is the first Toronto player to hit 70 points in 59 games or fewer since Hall of Famer Mats Sundin did so in 57 games in 1996-97. His two-point effort in Saturday's 4-2 win was the 23rd multi-point game of the year, which is tied for third-most in the NHL.