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National Hockey League
Toronto 4, St. Louis 2
When: 1:00 PM ET, Monday, February 19, 2024
Where: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Referees: Frederick L'Ecuyer, T.J. Luxmore
Linesmen: Kiel Murchison, James Tobias
Attendance: 18096

Auston Matthews scored his 49th goal of the season and earned an assist as the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Monday afternoon.

Matthew Knies, William Nylander and Bobby McMann also scored and Mitch Marner earned three assists for the Maple Leafs, who won their fourth straight game.

Ilya Samsonov made 19 saves to earn the victory.

Brandon Saad and Pavel Buchnevich scored and Joel Hofer made 25 saves for the Blues, who suffered their third loss in their last four games.

The teams combined for just 12 shots on goal during a first-period defensive battle. Each team earned one clean break-in scoring opportunity.

Matthews hit the right post on his chance, then Samsonov stopped Jordan Kyrou trying to jam the puck through him at the other end.

Knies scored 22 seconds into the second period to put Toronto up 1-0. Knies took a pass from Matthews in the slot and split Blues defensemen Colton Parayko and Nick Leddy to earn his point-blank opportunity.

Both teams had chances off the rush later in the period. Samsonov stopped a right-wing blast from Robert Thomas on a 3-on-2 rush and McMann misfired on a clean breakaway.

Saad tied the game 1-1 with a power-play goal with 2:46 left in the second period. Parayko fed Saad in the slot for a quick wrist shot as the man advantage was about to expire.

Matthews put the Maple Leafs up 2-1 with a power-play goal 45 seconds into the third period. He looped into the low slot to convert Marner's pass from behind the net.

Nylander increased Toronto's lead to 3-1 with a short-handed goal with 12:31 left to play. He broke up an exchange between Buchnevich and Krug high in the Toronto zone, then scored on a breakaway.

With Hofer pulled for an extra attacker, Buchnevich cut the Toronto lead to 3-2 by deflecting Krug's point shot through traffic with 1:08 left. But McMann iced the game with an empty-netter.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Toronto   St. Louis
Mitch Marner 3 Points Pavel Buchnevich 1
Auston Matthews 1 Goals Pavel Buchnevich 1
Mitch Marner 3 Assists Torey Krug 1
Auston Matthews 1 Power Play Goals Brandon Saad 1
William Nylander 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Ilya Samsonov .905 Save Percentage Joel Hofer .893
Ilya Samsonov 19 Saves Joel Hofer 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Toronto 29 4 1-2 1-2 4 32
St. Louis 21 2 1-2 1-2 4 29
Upcoming Games
  • St. Louis will play their next game at home against NY Islanders. The Blues have a W/L % of .433 after a win and .640 after a loss.
  • Toronto will play their next game on the road against Arizona. The Maple Leafs have a W/L % of .552 after a win and .560 after a loss.