Leafs' Marner, Matthews pick up milestones in win over Sabres
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A pair of Toronto Maple Leafs picked up milestones Tuesday night, with Mitch Marner reaching the 100-point plateau for the first time in his career and Auston Matthews scoring his 400th career goal.
Marner came into the game with 99 points and reached triple-digits with a third-period marker as part of a 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres. The Leafs only held a 1-0 lead at the time, with Marner's goal doubling the Toronto advantage with 4:21 to go.
The 27-year-old leads the Leafs in points this season and eclipses the personal best he set in 2022-23 when he finished with 99. He became the fourth Leaf to ever reach 100 points in a season, joining Matthews, Darryl Sittler and Doug Gilmour.
Matthews scored on an empty net mere minutes after Marner's goal, reaching the 400 plateau in just his ninth NHL season. The goal was Matthews' 32nd on the year after potting 69 a year ago. It was the second career milestone in as many days around the NHL as Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn scored his 400th career goal one night earlier in a game against the New Jersey Devils.
Matthews now sits just 20 goals shy of Mats Sundin (420) for the most in Leafs history. He passed Sittler (389) earlier this season to move into second on the team's all-time list.
Matthews had two points in Tuesday's win, giving him 726 on his career. That's good for sixth on the Leafs' all-time list, with Marner sitting fifth at 739 with plenty of ground still to make up on Sundin (987) for the team lead.
Maple Leafs clinch Atlantic
The Leafs' win over the Sabres wrapped up the Atlantic Division, setting up a matchup with the Ottawa Senators in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Marner, Matthews, Steven Lorentz and Nick Robertson all scored for Toronto, while goaltender Anthony Stolarz made 36 saves to earn the shutout.
This is the Leafs’ first division title since they topped the all-Canadian North Division during the 56-game 2020-21 season.
The Senators locked themselves into the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference with a 4-3 OT victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on April 13.
The Leafs and Senators have faced off four times in the postseason - the most recent being in 2004 - with Toronto coming out on top each time.