Auston Matthews recorded three points as the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied with two power-play goals to defeat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 at Scotiabank Arena on Monday night.
Mason Marchment gave San Jose a 1-0 advantage at 13:54 of the first period, lifting a backhand shot past Toronto goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky off an assist from Tyler Toffoli. The Sharks held the edge until late in the second period, when Matthews leveled the score 1-1 on a power-play wrist shot with 12 seconds remaining before the intermission. Kirill Marchenko and Darren Raddysh earned the assists on the tying goal.
Toronto grabbed the lead early in the final frame on another man advantage. Gavin McKenna buried a wrist shot at 4:56 of the third period with helpers from Matthews and William Nylander to make it 2-1. Nick Paul secured the victory at 19:20 by sending an empty-net wrist shot into the cage, set up by Matthews and Colton Sissons.
Special teams shaped the outcome as Toronto finished 2-for-5 on the power play while San Jose failed on all four of its opportunities. In net, Bobrovsky stopped 30 of 31 shots to earn the win for the Maple Leafs. Yaroslav Askarov made 29 saves on 31 shots in the loss for the Sharks.
The victory lifted the Maple Leafs to a 4-4-2 record on the season. The Sharks fell to 4-4-1 and are winless in two straight games (0-1-1).
Both teams return to the ice on Tuesday, October 20. The Maple Leafs visit the Columbus Blue Jackets, while the Sharks travel to face the Montreal Canadiens.
