Auston Matthews lifts Maple Leafs past Jets in OT

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TORONTO — Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 21st goal of the season 59 seconds into overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 on Thursday night to snap a three-game losing streak.

Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Ilya Mikheyev scored in regulation to help Toronto regain the overall NHL lead at 19-7-2. Frederik Andersen made 23 saves, and Matthews and Marner each added an assist.

Nikolaj Ehlers had two goals and an assist, and Paul Stastny also scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves.

Toronto got the winner at the end of a long shift when Matthews took a pass from Morgan Rielly and roofed a backhander to seal it.

The Jets, who beat the Maple Leafs 4-3 on Tuesday on the heels of a 7-1 blowout loss to the Montreal Canadiens, and Maple Leafs will complete the three-game set Saturday night back at Scotiabank Arena.

Mikheyev made it 3-2 with 7:31 left in regulation, but the Jets tied it with Hellebuyck on the bench for an extra attack when Ehlers found Stastny with 2:26 remaining.

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