Monday's hockey: Pens gain point in Toronto but trail Wings in wild-card tiebreaker

Toronto — Jake McCabe scored at 1:30 of overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Monday night.

Auston Matthews got his NHL-leading 65th goal of the season to go along with an assist, while Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves.

In the extra period, McCabe took a pass from Auston Matthews after a near mix-up at Toronto’s bench between Mitch Marner and Tyler Bertuzzi and buried his eighth goal of the season.

“I was waiting to see what Mitch and Bert were gonna do,” McCabe said. “Auston found me on the backside.”

Rickard Rakell and Drew O’Connor scored for Pittsburgh, which is now 6-0-3 over its last nine to get back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. Ex-Red Wing Alex Nedeljkovic had 20 saves.

The Penguins are tied with Detroit with 84 points for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference but Detroit holds the edge having played one fewer game and with more regulation wins (38 to 36).

Pittsburgh also trails the New York Islanders by one point for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

More:Watch: Plymouth's Kirsten Simms scores OT goal to beat Canada at hockey worlds

Matthews gave Toronto a 2-1 lead on the power play at 1:22 of the third period when he ripped a one-timer 3 seconds into the man advantage. Matthews has scored six times in the last five games, and remains on pace to put up 69 goals with five games left in the season as he looks to become the first player to hit 70 in more than three decades.

“You know, 60 was crazy. … 65 it’s … you look at it in awe,” Knies said. “It’s pretty incredible what he can do. … Cross my fingers. I want to see 70.”

Matthews’ 65 goals matched Alex Ovechkin’s total from 2007-08 – the most by an active player and the NHL’s high-water mark since Mario Lemieux scored 69 in 1995-96.

“He’s going about it the right way,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He’s trusting that his ability is going to shine through – he’s going to be able to score – and however it works out in the end, I think he’ll be content. … Certainly should be proud of what he’s done, how he’s handled himself, all the way through.”

However, Pittsburgh tied it with 6:42 remaining when Drew O’Connor swatted home his 14th off a scramble in the crease.

The Penguins sat nine points below the playoff cutline on March 27, but have dragged themselves back into the race thanks to its nine-game point streak – and some pedestrian performances from the teams above and around them in the standings.

“Close game,” said Crosby, who had a skate issue and never saw the ice in OT. “We’ll look at this as hopefully an important point here down the road.”

(At) Vancouver 4, Vegas 3: Conor Garland scored twice and Vancouver beat Las Vegas.

Quinn Hughes (Michigan) and Brock Boeser each had a goal and an assist for the Canucks, and J.T. Miller had three assists. Arturs Silovs finished with 20 saves in his third start of the season.

Jack Eichel scored twice and Noah Hanifin had a goal and an assist for Vegas. Logan Thompson finished with 26 saves.

Playoff tracker

Atlantic

▶ Bruins (107)

▶ Panthers (102)

▶ Maple Leafs (97)

Metropolitan

▶ Rangers (110)

▶ Hurricanes (105)

▶ Islanders (85)

Wild card

▶ Lightning (93)

▶ Red Wings (84)

(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)

▶ Penguins (84)

▶ Capitals (83)

▶ Flyers (83)

▶ Sabres (79)

▶ Devils (79)

If playoffs started Tuesday

Eastern Conference playoff matchups

▶ (1M) Rangers vs. Red Wings (WC2)

▶ (A2) Panthers vs. Maple Leafs (A3)

▶ (1A) Bruins vs. Lightning (WC1)

▶ (2M) Hurricanes vs. (3M) Islanders

Remaining games in wild-card race

Islanders (85)

▶ Home (2): Canadiens, Penguins

▶ Away (2): Rangers, Devils

Red Wings (84)

▶ Home (2): Capitals, Canadiens

▶ Away (3): Penguins, Leafs, Canadiens

Penguins (84)

▶ Home (3): Wings, Bruins, Predators

▶ Away (1): Islanders

Flyers (83 points)

▶ Home (2): Devils, Capitals

▶ Away (2): Canadiens, Rangers

Capitals (83 points)

▶ Home (2): Lightning, Bruins

▶ Away (3): Wings, Sabres, Flyers

Skids by Caps, Flyers alter playoff races

When April began, the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers looked on track to make the playoffs and the Colorado Avalanche had a good shot at winning the Central Division.

Not so much anymore, with the losses cascading down like spring showers.

The Capitals have lost their past six games, the Flyers their past seven and the Avalanche have dropped three of their past four. Playoff races around the NHL have since flipped, with Pittsburgh, Detroit and the New York Islanders picking up the pieces in the Eastern Conference and Dallas widening its lead atop the Central and in line for home-ice advantage until at least the Stanley Cup Final.

“When you’re in a winning streak, it feels like you can do no wrong and you can’t miss,” Capitals leading scorer Dylan Strome said Monday. “And when you’re in a losing streak, it feels like bounces just aren’t going your way, the possible offsides aren’t going your way, the penalty calls aren’t going your way. That’s what it’s like when you get into a little bit of a losing streak.”

All three teams are running out of time to turn things around, with just over a week left in the regular season.

Eastern Conference

Only two of the East's playoff slots remain through Sunday's games (New York Rangers, Carolina, Boston, Tampa Bay, Florida and Toronto have all clinched). The Flyers and Capitals look more primed for golfing than playing hockey in late April. Philadelphia has been outscored 33-15 during its skid, with four of the losses coming against non-playoff opponents.

“We can’t get discouraged,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. "No one is going to help us out of this, and being discouraged is not going to help it. We’ve just got to stay positive.”

Washington has blown a late lead in its past two defeats, with 1:51 left at Carolina on Friday and 7:17 remaining against lowly Ottawa on Sunday. Out of a possible 12 points, the Caps have picked up two to drop to 10th in the conference, behind the Islanders, Red Wings and Penguins.

“The frustrating part is you’re winning game (with) five, six minutes left in the game, and you don’t get it done,” All-Star winger Tom Wilson said. “That’s the frustrating part right now, but I think the care is there, the battle level there and we’re going to doing everything we can to push this thing over the line and into the playoffs.”

The Islanders have won four in a row and six of eight to vault into third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins, even after tradingwinger Jake Guentzel to the Hurricanes, are also back in the race – one point back of Detroit for the second wild-card spot.

“We have belief and confidence in each other and just take one game at a time and keep trying to stay alive," center Lars Eller said. "There’s no quit in this group. We have bad games once in a while, but there’s no quit.”

Western Conference

Dallas, Colorado, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Edmonton have already clinched and Los Angeles, Nashville and defending champion Vegas look ready to complete the West bracket. The order, of course, could change a lot before the first round begins April 20.

The Stars winning nine of their past 10 have put them nine points ahead of the Avalanche and just on the heels of the New York Rangers in the Presidents' Trophy race. Colorado coach Jared Bednar called Dallas “a different animal” than other opponents his team has faced.

The Avalanche have struggled to defend and in their past three games allowed 37, 47 and 46 shots, putting undue pressure on goaltenders Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen. The depth that helped them win the Cup in 2022 has eroded and, despite Nathan MacKinnon willing them to win most nights as part of an MVP-caliber season, they don't look like a championship contender at the moment.

“I think it happens all the time through the course of the season, so it’s not like overly concerning," Bednar said. “We’re in a fight to try and get home ice here now. We’ve got some big games coming up. So we want to make sure we’re fixing it and the most important thing is that it’s fixed and we get more consistent at playing the way we want to play for the playoffs.”

In the Pacific Division, Connor McDavid's Oilers are giving Vancouver a run for first place, an improbable tear with 44 wins in 63 games since Kris Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft as coach. The Canucks aren't doing themselves any favors as they haven't beaten a fellow playoff team in roughly a month, dating to a 5-0 rout of Winnipeg on March 9.

DuPont granted exceptional status

The Canadian Hockey League granted 14-year-old Landon DuPont exceptional player status and is is eligible to play in the Western Hockey League in the 2024-25 season.

DuPont is the first defenseman and second player in WHL history to be allowed to play in the CHL a year before their draft year by Hockey Canada, following Connor Bedard (2020, Regina).

Red Wings forward Joe Veleno (2015, Saint John Sea Dogs) is one of nine players who have been granted exceptional player status. The other six players are:

▶ John Tavares (2005, Oshawa)

▶ Aaron Ekblad (2011, Barrie)

▶ Connor McDavid (2012, Erie)

▶ Sean Day (2013, Mississauga)

▶ Shane Wright (2019, Kingston)

▶ Michael Misa (2022, Saginaw)

Michigan-area hockey this week

Tuesday

▶ Washington at Red Wings, 7 (ESPN/97.1)

Thursday

▶ Red Wings at Pittsburgh, 7 (BSD/950)

▶ Michigan vs. Boston College in Minnesota, 8:30 (ESPNU)

Friday

▶ Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7 (AHL/96.1)

▶ NTDP U17s at Youngstown, 7

Saturday

▶ Red Wings at Toronto, 7 (BSD/CBC/97.1)

▶ Grand Rapids at Chicago, 8 (AHL/106.9/1300)

▶ Youngstown at NTDP U17s, 7

Sunday

▶ Grand Rapids at Chicago, 4 (AHL/96.1)