It was another slow start for the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday, as the Toronto Maple Leafs fell into town for a match-up that swung both ways, but Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner controlled most of the game.
The Maple Leafs grabbed the lead less than two minutes into the game when Bobby McMann scored his ninth goal of the year, assisted by TJ Brodie for his 14th and Timothy Liljegren for his 13th, 1-0 Toronto.
Less than five minutes in, Matthews recorded his 50th goal of the season on the power play in just 54 games, as Liljegren nabbed his second point on the night, the primary assist, his 15th on the year, and Marner landed his first of three points in the game, 2-0 Toronto.
With under five minutes to play in the frame, William Nylander connected on a pass from John Tavares, forwarded by Marner, on the power play, for Nylander’s 30th goal of the season, allowing Toronto to walk into the locker room hoisting a 3-0 lead.
Matias Maccelli and the Coyotes quickly snagged two goals from Ilya Samsonov, as Nick Bjugstad recorded his 18th assist on the year on Maccelli’s 9th goal, 3-1 Maple Leafs.
Barrett Hayton, who missed time due to injury, recorded his third goal on the season just over one minute later, as Alexander Kerfoot and Josh Brown were credited for their 24th and 5th assists on the season, 3-2 Maple Leafs.
Matthews grabbed his second goal in his home state, his 51st on the season, with under four minutes remaining in the middle period. Marner tallied the primary assist for his third point in the affair, and Brodie reared his head for his 14th assist on the season, the secondary on the Leafs’ fourth goal of the game, 4-2 Toronto.
Dylan Guenther continued his offensive production with the Coyotes last tally of the night with less than seven seconds on the clock in the second period, as Clayton Keller notched his 30th assist and Sean Durzi his 22nd, 4-3 Maple Leafs heading into the break.
Nylander and Brodie re-emerged precisely two minutes into the final period, expanding the Maple Leafs lead to two on Nylander’s 31st goal of the year, with Brodie’s 15 assists, 5-3 Toronto.
Tavares nailed the Coyotes with his 16th goal on the season, assisted by Nicholas Robertson, his tenth, and McMann, his seventh, making the final score 6-3 Toronto.
The Coyotes 11th consecutive loss makes this their longest losing streak in franchise history.
With virtually an entire work-week off before landing to play the Jets in Winnipeg, starting a five-game road streak spanning until March 5th, Arizona has their work cut out for them if they want to shake the losing skid anytime soon.
