Auston Matthews makes history, but Maple Leafs’ winning streak ends in disaster against Flames

The Toronto Maple Leafs' four-game winning streak was snapped on Monday night with a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames in what was Toronto's final game at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Easton Cowan and William Nylander scored for Toronto, while Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves on 32 shots.

Auston Matthews becomes fastest Leaf to hit 800 points

At 6:06 of the third period, in what was a bit of a scramble drill in front of the Calgary crease, Auston Matthews drew an assist on Nylander's 3-2 marker for his 800th point in his NHL career.

Matthews became the fastest Maple Leaf to hit that milestone (703 games) and is now fourth on the franchise's all-time list. Dave Keon sits in third with 858, a number that the current captain should hit this season. Darryl Sittler is second with 916, and Mats Sundin, of course, is the current franchise leader with 987.

If Matthews sticks around, there is no reason why he won't surpass Sundin within the next few seasons.

A night of growth for Easton Cowan

So far this season, Cowan has been a revelation for the Maple Leafs in his second full season. He had five goals and 13 points heading into Monday night and has clearly taken a step forward early in the campaign.

Against the Flames, however, there were moments when he looked like a young player still figuring some things out.

Mikael Backlund's goal at 11:50 of the first period was a direct result of Cowan turning the puck over against the boards in his own end. Matvei Gridin scored a power-play goal just 25 seconds into the middle frame, with Cowan sitting in the box serving a penalty that he later took the blame for.

"Dumb penalty by me," Cowan said. "Those two goals are on me. I got to be better. I cost us the game - Selfish of me to take that dumb penalty. Can't have that. Got to be better and control my emotions better."

Yet, at 12:54 of the same period, it was Cowan who finally figured out Devin Cooley and put the Leafs on the board with his sixth of the season.

Now, with regards to Cowan taking the blame, I have all of the respect in the world with him falling on the sword, but this was a team loss, and Matthews said as much.

"We win as a team and lose as a team. It's not on one individual guy," Matthews said when asked about Cowan's comments. "I took two penalties with less than 10 minutes to go when we're trying to tie up the game - We're going to stick together through it all. We're going to win as a team and lose as a team."

Not all bad for Toronto on Monday night

Was this the smoothest performance of the season by the Maple Leafs? No. Was it predictable? After a perfect week capped off by a dominant win over the Edmonton Oilers, yes.

Cooley, Calgary's netminder, has taken the NHL world by storm over the last week with his terrific play and his charismatic interviews. On Monday, he made some massive saves at key points in the game to keep his team's lead intact.

Dating back a couple of seasons, I like watching the Flames play, even if the expectations for them are somewhat low. They work hard and are going to make their opponents fight for every inch. That's what the Leafs got in the final game of the Alberta portion of their road trip.

Up next for Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs are in Seattle on Wednesday to take on the Kraken and will wrap up their four-game trip on Saturday when they visit the Vancouver Canucks.

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