Tonight marks a crucial game for both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Arizona Coyotes. Auston Matthews has been on fire and looks to continue his fantastic play tonight against the Coyotes. Matthews has the chance to set a record as the fastest active player to reach 50 goals. The way he’s playing, and against the team he’s facing, he’ll not just get there, he may blow past it.
Matthews and the Maple Leaf Surge
The Maple Leafs look to continue their winning streak tonight against a struggling Arizona team and come into tonight’s contest riding a current four-game winning streak. Throughout the past four games, the play of Matthews has been on another level and rookie Bobby McMann has been driving the team to its recent success.
Matthews comes into tonight’s matchup looking to hit the 50-goal mark, which would be the first time a player has done so this NHL season. To add a little spice to the potential milestone night, Matthews could achieve this in front of his hometown crowd. The Arizona native will no doubt have family and friends in the building to watch their star chase the milestone for just the second time in his career.
Desert Dogs Searching for Answers
The past few weeks have been nothing but a disaster for the Coyotes. After their 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers (ten straight games) on Monday, the Coyotes losing streak hit rock bottom. Coyotes forward Nick Bjugstad shared his thoughts about the recent struggles with The Canadian Press:
“It’s tough in the room right now; we’ve got to figure it out”. “It’s very frustrating, myself included. We would do anything, just about anything, for a win right now.”
The recent loss of starting goalie Connor Ingram could be having a significant impact on this slump. He has been having an outstanding season. Either way, one player should not influence a team’s success to this extent.
Just over a month ago, the Coyotes were in a competitive playoff race for the final wild-card spot in the west. Since this losing streak took place, they’ve fallen further out of the race. This could lead to the Coyotes missing the playoffs for the twelfth straight season (this excludes the play-in round win in the 2020 playoff bubble). It could also mean the team becomes a trade deadline seller.
Tonight is a key test for the Coyotes, it should be an excited crowd with all the Leafs fans in town. They’ll look to break this losing streak before having a much-needed three-day break.
They’ll have to do so and stopping Matthews from getting to 50 might be a good way to start.
Next: Does Marc-Andre Fleury make sense for the Maple Leafs?
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