Maple Leafs explode with throttling of Capitals

TORONTO — William Nylander, Michael Bunting and Ilya Mikheyev each scored twice, and Auston Matthews notched his 100th and 101st points with two assists in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 7-3 throttling of the Washington Capitals on Thursday.

Toronto captain John Tavares also chipped in four secondary assists before 18,466 at Scotiabank Arena. The win pushed the Maple Leafs (48-20-6) to a victory shy of the club record of 49, set in 2017-18.

Matthews became the third player in Maple Leafs' history to score 100 or more points in a season.

Darryl Sittler was the first, checking in with 117 points in 1977-78. Doug Gilmour followed up his 127-point year in 1992-93 with a 111-point campaign in 1993-94.

Toronto goalie Jack Campbell earned his 28th win as the home team outshot the visitors 32-25. The Capitals (41-23-10) saw their four-game win streak go by the wayside.

The Maple Leafs were buzzing early. The Capitals required 9:37 before Lars Eller mustered the first shot on goal off a turnover from Toronto forward Alex Kerfoot.

By then, Toronto already enjoyed a 1-0 advantage on a goal from rookie Michael Bunting, set up from Mitch Marner and Matthews. For his 100th point, Matthews made a nifty play along the boards to deflect the puck to Marner.

Marner chased down the puck as a keepsake for Matthews. Bunting was performing in his 100th career game, and Marner hit the 60-assist mark for the second time in his career.

After Nylander missed an open net, he made up for the mistake by blasting in a 36-foot slapper after taking a pinpoint pass from Pierre Engvall for a 2-0 lead later in the opening period.

The offence picked up midway through the second period with a four-on-four situation because Engvall and Capitals defenceman Matt