Auston Matthews scored his first goal since returning from injury, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Monday.
The remaining offense for Toronto (15-7-2) came from John Tavares, Fraser Minten, and Matthew Knies, all of whom scored into an empty net. Anthony Stolarz recorded 27 saves. Mitch Marner recorded two assists in his 600th regular season game.
Lukas Reichel responded for Chicago (8-15-2), which has lost three straight. Arvid Soderblom blocked 18 shots.
Matthews missed nine games due to an upper-body ailment before returning to the lineup and picking up two assists in a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The 27-year-old center opened the scoring in the first period before Tavares doubled Toronto’s lead on a deflected shot in the second. Reichel made it 2-1 early in the third, but Minten restored the home side’s two-goal cushion 21 seconds later.
Takeaways
Leafs: Jake McCabe sat out after taking a puck to the head Saturday. The defenseman joined forwards Max Pacioretty, Max Domi, Bobby McMann, David Kampf and Calle Jarnkrok on the sidelines. Fellow blueliner Jani Hakanpaa, meanwhile, was added to injured reserve Monday with a lower-body issue.
Blackhawks: Connor Bedard, the top pick at the 2023 draft, entered with goals in two of his last three contests following a 12-game drought.
Key moment
Matthews, who led the NHL with 69 goals last season, beat Soderblom five-hole off a slick William Nylander feed for his sixth of the campaign.
Key stat
The Leafs had the league’s second-best points percentage in November (8-3-1, .708). Toronto also allowed the fewest goals against — 27, including just 15 at 5-on-5 — over that 12-game span
Up next
The Blackhawks begin a two-game homestand against the Bruins on Wednesday, while the Maple Leafs face the Predators on the same night.
