Blackhawks Daily: Auston Matthews’s Big Year Is Impacting The Playoff Race

The Chicago Blackhawks were idle on Monday night as was most of the National Hockey League. The only two games on were the early match between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs and the nightcap between the Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights. 

Vegas vs Vancouver was a treat in the Western Conference. Vegas lost to Vancouver and will have to wait a little longer to clinch a postseason berth. The Canucks are very good and are going to be a hard out when the playoffs begin. 

In the wild Eastern Conference matchup between Toronto and Pittsburgh, the postseason race was impacted by the Penguins getting one point in an overtime loss. They are now tied with the Detroit Red Wings for the final Wild Card spot. However, the big story of the game was the 65th goal of the season scored by Auston Matthews. He now has eight goals in his last eight games which helped him get to the landmark number.

Matthews has been chasing down 70 goals for a long time now. He ended the 60-goal season drought in the NHL and now he is looking to be the first to have 70 since the early 90s. 

Five more games are remaining on the schedule for the Maple Leafs for him to get those five goals. His next chance to score will come on Tuesday night against the New Jersey Devils. Those two teams will battle in Newark before heading up to Toronto to complete the second half of their home and home. 

If Matthews scores 70, he will be one of the leading candidates to win the Hart Trophy. His chase for it is one of the top stories in the league right now. No matter what, his 2023-24 season should be celebrated. Toronto fans can only hope that this continues into the playoffs. 

Blackhawks In Case You Missed It

• Connor Bedard deserves to be the Calder Trophy winner despite the great season that Brock Faber is having.
• Lukas Reichel deserves praise for how he has played since returning to the lineup after a stint with the Rockford Ice Hogs. 
• The Blackhawks had a tough game against the Minnesota Wild despite a good effort from Arvid Soderblom in the net. 

Hockey Now Playoff Focus

• Boston Hockey Now: The Boston Bruins are going to need to be physical if they want to have success once the postseason begins.
• Colorado Hockey Now: The Colorado Avalanche have a lot going on with their team as the regular season winds down. For one, they need Mikko Rantanen back from his injury.
• Detroit Hockey Now: The Detroit Red Wings control their destiny when it comes to making it into the Eastern Conference playoffs.
• Vegas Hockey Now: Tomas Hertl made his debut in the Vegas Golden Knights lineup against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night. He will be big for them in the playoffs.