Toronto's Auston Matthews fastest U.S.-born player to reach 50-goal mark as Coyotes fall
Mullett Arena became the sight for a historic night, it just wasn’t the night the Arizona Coyotes wanted.
The Coyotes struggled to contain the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night and once again let a close game deteriorate in the third period with a 6-3 loss, their 11th-straight.
Auston Matthews, a Scottsdale native, scored within the first five minutes. With that, he reached the 50-goal mark in a season faster than any American-born player in NHL history. The milestone took just 54 games, which shattered Kevin Stevens' 31-year record by eight games.
"It's great, it's a small step in a long season," Matthews said. "But playing at home and playing against a team that's had our number the last couple of seasons, it was a good win and good effort throughout the lineup."
The Coyotes (23-29-4) will embark on a five-game road trip beginning with the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday at 4 p.m.
Outmanned
It was hard for the Coyotes to get their legs under them as the Maple Leafs swarmed the net early on. There was also the challenge of giving up 10 penalty minutes in the first period that led to the Leafs going 2-for-5 on the power play.
“Our discipline in the first period cost us the game and it did not allow us to have a fair match and go toe-to-toe with them," head coach André Tourigny said. "When you’re down 3-0 and you give a chance for their best players to feel good about themselves and have an opportunity to score, you’re running from trouble.”
Matthews scored his 50th goal with time and space in the corner at 5:01 for a 2-0 lead. William Nylander added another on a 5-on-3 advantage when he finished Mitch Marner’s stickwork at 15:27.
Karel Vejmelka faced 10 of the 16 shots in the first period against the power play. He was saved by a video review that called off Nicholas Robertson’s goal at 4:41 after it was called offsides.
Second wind
After falling behind three goals to none, the Coyotes built an exciting response.
Steering away from the first period’s penalty issues, the Coyotes never went on the penalty kill and were aided from an early power play. Right after the clock expired, Matias Maccelli kept the momentum going and moved past defenseman Timothy Liljegren to send his shot over goaltender Ilya Samsonov for 3-1 deficit at 4:28. Barrett Hayton’s stick tipped in Alex Kerfoot’s shot within the next minute to make it 3-2.
The Leafs didn’t give up the lead easily as Matthews scored his second of the game off a deflection while Vejmelka sprawled across the net for a 4-2 lead.
Dylan Guenther gave some late momentum when he scored on the power play to make the game 4-3 at 19:53.
Late collapse
For the second consecutive game, the Coyotes let a one-goal game snowball into a blowout in the third. The Coyotes paid the price when the puck sputtered out of the zone after the power play expired, leading to Nylander scoring on a breakaway out of the box for a 5-3 lead at 2:00. John Tavares diminished the Coyotes' hopes when he sent his shot past Vejmelka for the 6-3 lead at 8:44.
“Even from the start, we were solid 5-on-5, but you can’t get any momentum and think you’re going to give yourself an opportunity when you’re in the penalty box for 10 minutes in the first," Hayton said.
"We played 5-on-5 in the second and it showed that we can play with them. They were able to fight back and in the third, there were breakdowns, which is unacceptable. You can’t give those scoring chances when you’re playing teams like that and think you’ll give yourself a chance to win.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Scottsdale native Auston Matthews scores 50th goal vs. Coyotes
