Good News: Maple Leafs Talented Star Player Auston Matthews Has Announced As The First Person To Enter 80 Goals….

Auston Matthews has one more chance to reach a milestone not touched in nearly three decades.

The Maple Leafs (opens in a new tab)sniper was unable to score in Tuesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers, leaving him stuck on 69 goals for the season(opens in a new tab).Download our app to get alerts on your device(opens in a new tab)
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Matthews and Toronto visit the Tampa Bay Lightning to close out the regular season on Wednesday night. The 26-year-old centre is looking to become the first player to score 70 goals in a campaign since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny both registered 76 back in 1992-93.

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Matthews, who had found the back of the net 10 times in his previous eight games before the loss to the Panthers, can become just the ninth player in NHL history to score 70 goals in a season, joining the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull and Mario Lemieux.

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Toronto’s defeat to Florida, coupled with Ottawa’s 3-1 victory over Boston, means the Leafs will play the Bruins(opens in a new tab) in the first round of the playoffs. The Panthers and Lightning are set to square off in the other Atlantic Division matchup.

Tampa star Nikita Kucherov is also looking for a milestone Wednesday night. The winger is sitting on 99 assists and can become just the fifth player in NHL history get to 100 after Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid also reached the number on Monday in a 9-2 win over the visiting San Jose Sharks.

The top stars from both Tampa Bay and Toronto can reach incredible season milestones tonight.

TAMPA — The Lightning’s regular season finale against the Leafs doesn’t mean anything in terms of the standings or postseason placement, but the spotlight still will be on Amalie Arena tonight.

Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov is one assist shy of becoming the fifth player in NHL history to record 100 assists in a season. Edmonton’s Connor McDavid reached the mark earlier this week, but the feat otherwise hadn’t been accomplished since 1991.

Also, Leafs center Auston Matthews can become the first player in 21 years — and the first American-born player — to score 70 goals in a season if he fills the net tonight. The last players to reach 70 goals were Alexander Mogilny and Teemu Selanne in 1992-93.

“Clearly, I’m pulling for No. 86 (Kucherov) to get his 100th assist and I think what a remarkable accomplishment that would be,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

“And then you look on the other side and for No. 34 (Matthews) to be able to get 70 and to be able to say you were in the building as a fan would be super cool to see. The problem is, I’m the coach of the other team, so we have to find a way to prevent that. But he’s done it 69 times against a whole bunch of other teams that tried to prevent it so it’s hard to do.”

Kucherov, who enters the finale with an NHL-best 141 points, also ca solidify his quest for his second career scoring title over fellow Hart Trophy frontrunners Nathan MacKinnon (138) of Colorado and McDavid (132). McDavid has two games left entering the day, and MacKinnon one, with the Oilers and Avalanche meeting Thursday in the regular season finale for both teams.

Bolts playing shorthanded?
The Lightning have suddenly become hamstrung with a rash of injuries at the wrong time, and players who might need an extra couple of days to recover in order to be ready for the postseason certainly won’t play tonight.

Cooper indicated that depending on some pregame medical reports, the Lighting might actually have to play shorthanded against the Leafs.

Fourth-line center and faceoff specialist Luke Glendening was injured in Monday’s game against Buffalo, and didn’t return and didn’t practice Tuesday. Forward Tyler Motte hasn’t played or practiced since leaving Thursday’s game against Ottawa after taking a puck to the right leg. Both players would appear to be doubtful for tonight.