Matthews scores twice in Maple Leafs win against Kraken

SEATTLE --Auston Matthews scored two goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-1 win against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday.

Mitchell Marner had three assists, Timothy Liljegren had a goal and an assist, and William Nylander and Michael Bunting each had two assists for Toronto (37-15-8), which has won three straight. Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves.
"A lot of good things out there for sure," Matthews said "It always helps to put a couple in the net, but I thought we really were just on the puck tonight. You know, forcing turnovers on the other hand and just staying honest and hungry, so it felt good to kind of get that momentum back, and obviously a big win for our team here starting with the short trip."
Vince Dunn scored for Seattle (32-21-6), which has lost three in a row. Philipp Grubauer allowed four goals on 21 shots before being replaced by Martin Jones, who made 11 saves.

Dunn gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 3:47 of the first period, scoring blocker side from the slot after Jared McCann knocked down a clearing attempt.
Mark Giordano tied it 1-1 at 4:58 when his shot from above the left circle beat Grubauer five-hole through a screen.
"Our response to the first goal against wasn't good enough against a team with good ability," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "Our energy and the start of our hockey game was good. As I said, we have to have a better response. … That goal goes in, we got to be stiffer, not just the next few shifts, with the rest of the period."
John Tavares put the Maple Leafs in front 2-1 at 7:06 of the first. He tapped a loose puck into an open net after Justin Holl's initial shot from the point deflected to him off Nylander.
Liljegren made it 3-1 at 12:51 with a one-timer from the right circle off a cross-slot pass from Marner from below the goal line.
"They put pucks into the scoring area and they've got a lot of good skill, but they've also got some heavy guys with hard sticks in there and they put pucks inside of there," Hakstol said. "For me, there's some of those struggles where we're reaching instead of getting in and getting under, being physical at the puck. When you reach against a team like this, you get yourself in trouble."

Matthews pushed the lead to 4-1 at 4:13 of the second period when he batted in a rebound near the right post. He then made it 5-1 at 12:31 of the third period, finishing a backdoor pass from Marner at the left post.
"I think when you see it go in, I think you just get a little extra pep in your step," Matthews said. "I thought tonight just as a line, as a team, you give up the first goal, I thought we really just dialed in our game."
NOTES:Nylander extended his point streak to seven games (five goals, eight assists). … Marner has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in his past four games. … Seattle is 3-6-1 in February. ... Toronto defenseman Mark Giordano had two blocked shots to become the NHL all-time leader. Giordano has 2,046 blocked shots in 1,084 games, surpassing former defenseman Kris Russell (2,044). The NHL began tracking blocked shots in 2005-06.