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The two each had two goals and an assist as the playoff-bound Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Monday night.
Andreas Johnsson also scored as Maple Leafs extended a franchise record with their 48th win and matched the team mark for points (103) set in 2003-04.
Matthews has five goals and 10 points during his seven-game streak to give him 60 points in 60 games. Meanwhile, Nylander is up to 59 points. They trail only Mitch Marner (69) in team scoring with two regular-season games remaining.
”I feel like we’ve had (chemistry) since we started playing with each other last year and especially with (Zach) Hyman as well,” Matthews said. ”The more you play with somebody, obviously, you build more chemistry and get to know them and have a feel for where they’re going to be in certain areas. We definitely showed that tonight.
Backup goalie Curtis McElhinney stopped 32 shots to help Toronto win for the 15th time in the last 17 at home while getting their 28th win at the Air Canada Centre.
”Home’s been pretty good to us and we feel we have an advantage when we step into the arena here,” Matthews said.
Sam Reinhart got his career-high 24th goal for the last-place Sabres, and Jason Pominville also scored. Chad Johnson finished with 31 saves.
Buffalo came into the game following a 7-4 win Saturday at Nashville.
”You think you’re heading in the right direction and then you take a step back,” Pominville said.
Matthews broke a 1-1 tie on the power play at 5:01 of the second period as he scored top shelf on Johnson from just inside the faceoff circle.
Nylander made it 3-1 on a breakaway at 7:39 after Matthews caught Buffalo on a bad line change and made a stretch pass ahead to the streaking Swede Michael Hutchinson Jersey , who broke in alone to beat Johnson glove side.
Nylander added his second of the period for a three-goal lead, going backand-to-forehand before snapping it under the bar for his 19th a little less than three minutes later.
”I thought the first period was pretty good, then we tied it up with the power-play goal,” Sabres coach Phil Housley said. ”Then we didn’t manage the puck very well, get caught on a line change and game gets out of reach. (The Leafs) have a terrific rush game and can finish.”
The Sabres pulled to 4-2 with their second power-play goal 2:56 into the third when Pominville put home a rebound for his 14th.
Matthews made it 5-2 with his second power-play goal of the game, finishing off a Nylander pass for his 33rd goal and 60th point in 60 games.
Johnsson opened the scoring at 5:44 of the first when he deflected a pass from Tomas Plekanec past Johnson.
Buffalo had its opportunities to put a goal on the board before the period was through with Toronto defenseman Roman Polak taking back-to-back high sticking penalties – including a double minor – but the Sabres couldn’t get much going.
Polak had 5:37 of ice time in the first, a secondary assist on Johnsson’s goal and six minutes in high-sticking penalties.
The Sabres began the second period with more than three minutes remaining in Polak’s double minor and finally took advantage when Reinhart deflected Rasmus Ristolainen’s point shot past McElhinney to tie it at 2:27.
NOTES: Toronto’s 103 points 14 years ago came before the NHL started using shootouts to decide games tied after overtime. The Maple Leafs have seven shootout wins this season. … McElhinney made rare back-to-back starts, with coach Mike Babcock choosing to give starter Frederik Andersen some extra rest. Andersen has faced the most shots of any goalie this season and is third in minutes played. … Toronto F Leo Komarov was out of the lineup for personal reasons. He was replaced by Matt Martin.
UP NEXT
Sabres: Host Ottawa on Wednesday night in their final home game before finishing with two on the road.
Maple Leafs: At New Jersey on Thursday night before returning home to close the regular season.
Carlos Dunlap walked into the Cincinnati Bengals locker room and noticed a group of videographers and reporters waiting by his locker in a far corner of the room.”Y’all looking for me?” he said.
Indeed Chris Tierney Jersey , Dunlap was the focus on the first day of mandatory minicamp after skipping most of the voluntary offseason workouts in Cincinnati. The ninth-year defensive end chose to work out on his own while his agent negotiated a new deal with the team, costing him $300,000 in bonuses.
Rather than skip the minicamp as well, he decided to catch up on what he’s missed with a new defense being implemented.
Plus, he’s encouraged by the progress made on a deal that would keep him in Cincinnati well beyond 2018.
”There are no hard feelings between any of us,” Dunlap said Tuesday. ”This is the process. Both sides understand it.”
Dunlap is a key to the Bengals’ hopes of a turnaround this season. They slid to 18th in the league overall and 30th against the run last season while missing out on the playoffs for a second straight year. Coordinator Paul Guenther left to join Jon Gruden with the Raiders, and Teryl Austin was hired as his replacement.
Dunlap has been a game-changer in Cincinnati with his ability to rush the quarterback and bat down passes. He’s second on the team’s career sacks list with 64 , and he’s been the best lineman in the league at batting down passes over the past few seasons.
Coaches have been trying to get him to be more consistent not only from game-to-game Craig Anderson Jersey , but within games as well. His number of plays could diminish this season as Cincinnati integrates some of its young pass rushers into the line rotation.
Carl Lawson had 8 sacks last season, the most by an NFL rookie and one sack shy of Dunlap’s team rookie record from 2010.
”They’re very adamant about having a big rotation, and I would too with all this talent on the D-line,” Dunlap said.
Dunlap and tackle Geno Atkins have anchored the line since 2010. Atkins leads the NFL in sacks by an interior lineman over the past few years. Dunlap had a career-high 13 sacks in 2015, but slipped to 8 the following season and 7 last year, third on the team.
By working out on his own the past few months, he missed a chance to learn the system implemented by Austin. He said the biggest change is in terminology.
”They’re pretty much similar in scheme – minor tweaks here or there – but they’re things we already had in our defense,” Dunlap said. ”So it’s not like a full spring cleaning or anything.”
Coach Marvin Lewis said Dunlap won’t get much time on the field during the three-day minicamp because he’s missed so much practice time.
”It’s a chance for him to get a preview of what will happen during training camp Authentic Derrick Henry Jersey ,” Lewis said. ”He’ll get very limited repetitions (in minicamp) just because these guys have been working here for an amount of weeks and he hasn’t been here.”
WOODSIDE CHARGED: Rookie quarterback Logan Woodside – a seventh-round pick from Toledo – practiced Tuesday after arraignment in northern Kentucky. He was charged over the weekend with speeding and driving under the influence in Bellevue, Kentucky, according to information in his case file in Campbell County District Court. The Bengals said they’re aware of the matter and gathering information. Lewis declined further comment.
EIFERT MISSING: Tight end Tyler Eifert was in the locker room but didn’t participate in the afternoon practice. Lewis declined to say why the often-injured tight end wasn’t on the field. ”He was here all morning and then all of a sudden he wasn’t,” Lewis said. ”I’m sure he’s being dealt with in some kind of medical fashion. That’s the only reason a guy wouldn’t be here.”
Eifert was limited to two games last season because of chronic back problems. He signed a one-year deal after the season. Lewis said Eifert has been doing well so far in his latest comeback.
”When we start to play football, then we’ll have an idea where he is,” Lewis said.
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