Dylan Larkin scores a power-play goal in OT to give the Red Wings a 5-4 victory over the Maple Leafs

TORONTO (AP) — Dylan Larkin scored on a power play 41 seconds into overtime and the Detroit Red Wings overcame Auston Matthews’ 69th goal of the season to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Saturday night.

Alex DeBrincat scored twice, David Perron had a goal and an assist, Simon Edvinsson also scored and JT Compher had two assists for Detroit, which led 4-1 after one period. James Reimer stopped 32 shots against his former team in his 500th NHL game.

Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists, John Tavares and Nick Robertson also scored, and Morgan Rielly had two assists for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov finished with 28 saves.

Matthews, who has scored 10 goals in his last eight games, is one shy of becoming the first player to score 70 goals in a season in more than 30 years. He matched Mario Lemieux’s total of 69 from the 1995-96 season.

In the extra period, Larkin redirected a Patrick Kane shot past Samsonov, with Max Domi out for a high hit.

Detroit started the day one point behind Pittsburgh for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins were scheduled to face Boston on Saturday night. Toronto’s loss dropped the Maple Leafs into third place in the Atlantic Division with two road games remaining.

Matthews had a few more chances on a late power play, and Samsonov couldn’t hold on to Detroit’s man advantage late in regulation.

The crowd’s anticipation grew each time Matthews touched the puck in search of number 70 with the score tied at 4-4, before Samsonov, who had a difficult opening 20 minutes, stopped Lucas Raymond near the end with 9 minutes remaining. the end of regulation time.

Trailing 4-1 after an ugly opening 20 minutes, Robertson scored his 14th goal at 9:04 of the second before Kane received a double minor for high tackle.

That set the stage for Matthews, who hit the post in the first, fired No. 69 past Reimer before emphatically punching the air at 10:23 inside a deafening Scotiabank Arena.

The shooter almost reached 70 moments after a break, but Reimer closed his defenses at the last second.

The Maple Leafs tied it with 2:38 left in the half-time period when Tavares scored his 26th goal as Toronto overcame a three-goal deficit in just over eight minutes against Reimer, who was drafted by Toronto in 2006 and played for the Maple Leafs in 2010. -16.

Marner opened the scoring on a power play at 8:35 of the first when he scored his 26th goal of the season. William Nylander got the first assist to end an eight-game point drought.

Detroit tied it 1:27 later at 2-on-1 when DeBrincat scored his 25th.

The Red Wings went ahead with 6:21 left in the period in which Edvinsson completed an exchange with Perron for the first time.

DeBrincat made it 3-1 on a power play at 17:37 after Samsonov shot a big rebound right off the winger’s stick for his second of the night.

Perron then put Detroit up by three with less than 20 seconds left in the period when he passed 16 past Samsonov at the near post.

NEXT

Red Wings: Will host Montreal on Monday night in the regular season finale at home.

Maple Leafs: At Florida on Tuesday night to open a two-game late-season road trip.

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