Matthews stays hot, Maple Leafs hold off Lightning for 3rd win in row

TORONTO -- Auston Matthews scored for the fourth straight game and had an assist for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.

The goal was Matthews’ eighth in nine games since his return after missing the previous six because of an upper-body injury.

“It’s been feeling better each night,” Matthews said. “Just getting back in a rhythm and playing every night, I think that kind of helps settle back into the season after the time off, but I think the way our line has been playing, just hounding pucks, trying to attack offensively and being good in our own zone has been good and we just want to keep that momentum going.”

Matthew Knies had two goals and an assist, and Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs (30-16-2), who have won three in a row and eight of 11. Joseph Woll made 27 saves.

“The first period was really good, I thought," Toronto coach Craig Berube said. "We came out and had the right mindset in the game. I thought we played a real good first. They made a push in the second, they had some rush chances against us, but Woll was good. Overall, I liked our game.”

Nick Paul scored twice, Darren Raddysh had a goal and an assist, and Nikita Kucherov had an assist to extend his point streak to nine games for the Lightning (25-17-3), who had won two in a row and five of seven. Victor Hedman had two assists, and Jonas Johansson made 23 saves.

“We’ve harped on (starting well) for quite some time now and it’s tough when you are chasing the game,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “Too many times in the last couple weeks here we’ve basically been playing a two-period game and we’ve got away with it at times, but for the most part we haven’t and tonight was a two-period game again for us. Against good teams like that, you aren’t going to have a chance.”

Matthews gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 4:06 of the first period when he carried the puck on a 2-on-1 with Marner and shot between Johnasson’s pads from just below the top of the left face-off circle. It was the fifth goal during his four-game streak.

Woll kept it 1-0 at 12:42 when he made a glove save on Paul, who shot from the right hashmarks. He made another save, this time 36 seconds into the second period, when he kicked out his right pad to stop Hedman, who shot from the high slot.

“Woll played great,” William Nylander said. “He made a couple huge saves (earlier in the game) to keep us in the lead.”

Nylander pushed it to 2-0 at 13:45 of the second period. He shot blocker side on a breakaway, scoring for the third straight game (four goals).

Paul cut it to 2-1 at 16:07, deflecting a shot from Raddysh at the bottom of the right circle.

Knies made it 3-1 at 19:37 when he got behind the Lightning defense, took a pass from Marner at the blue line, and shot past Johansson’s blocker from the slot.

“I thought our start was much better tonight than some of the previous games,” Matthews said. “It’s a good team over there. They weren’t going to go away no matter what the score was or situation was. I’m just happy with the response we had after giving up goals against, so I thought it was a really good game by everybody out there.”

Matthews nearly scored a “Michigan”-style goal at 3:38 of the third period after scooping up the puck for a lacrosse-style shot, but Johansson recognized the attempt and got his right shoulder up to the top corner to make the save.

“I didn’t see any other option,” Matthews said. “The puck was rolling; it was the beginning of the period, so my tape was fresh. I almost had it. I kind of quit attempting those a couple years ago, but I just thought it was a reasonable attempt and had a pretty good opportunity there, and it almost went in.”

Raddysh cut it to 3-2 at 8:07, scoring blocker side through traffic from the top of the right circle.

“We put ourselves behind,” Paul said. “We had a good second period and they just ended up scoring more than we did, especially at the end of the period, it’s hard. We pushed back. We put ourselves back in that game and that's all you can ask for and, from there, just learning how to finish it, as long as we're in the fight. But I think it starts in the first period.”

Knies extended it to 4-2 on the power play at 10:09 after gathering a rebound from Marner’s point shot and sliding a shot past Johansson’s outstretched left pad.

“The first time I was here, it’s obviously an adjustment to bigger and stronger players, but just getting some experience and playing against these guys and getting to practice against some of our players, it’s helped me a lot and (my net-front play) is getting much better,” Knies said.

Paul cut it to 4-3 with a power-play goal at 12:05, redirecting a shot from Brandon Hagel at the top of the goal crease, but Marner scored an empty-net goal at 18:55 for the 5-3 final.

NOTES: Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly had an assist and played in his 839th game to move into sole possession of 10th on the franchise’s all-time games played list. … Marner extended his assist and point streaks to four games (one goal, seven assists). … Kucherov has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) during his streak. … Hedman extended his point streak to seven games (two goals, seven assists).