BUFFALO, N.Y. — Auston Matthews scored into an empty net for the 400th goal of his career in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 4-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.
The victory clinched Toronto’s first Atlantic Division title, and also featured Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner reaching a career high with 100 points by scoring with 4:21 left in regulation.
The Maple Leafs secured the Eastern Conference’s second seed and will open the playoffs against their Ontario provincial rival, the Ottawa Senators.
Matthews, an American and a former No. 1 pick from the 2016 draft, is the sixth-fastest player to reach 400, according to ESPN Research, doing so in his 628th career game. That’s six games faster than Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s new all-time goals leader.
Milestone 1634 🫶 pic.twitter.com/h8R0z9IbC2
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 16, 2025
“It means a lot. … In the end, it’s a team accomplishment, I think. It’s a team sport. There’s a lot that goes into it,” Matthews said. “And just fortunate that it’s come off my stick a couple times.”
This is only the second time in franchise history that a Maple Leaf has scored 400 with the club, as Matthews joins Mats Sundin, who finished his Toronto tenure with 420. At some point early next season, health permitting, he should tie John LeClair (406) at No. 13 overall in all-time goals for American-born players.
Anthony Stolarz, who won a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers last season as a backup, closed his first season in Toronto’s net with a shutout, improving to 4-0-1 against the Sabres. The 31-year-old’s previous two trips to Buffalo ended in shutouts — a 45-save outing with Florida last season, and a 25-save outing with Anaheim in December 2021.
Toronto set a single-season franchise record with 25 road wins and claimed only its third division title overall. Toronto previously won the all-Canada North Division during the COVID-19-altered 2021 season, and were also Northeast Division champs in 2000.
“I feel really confident in this group. We put in a lot of work over the season,” Matthews said. “Earning the division was a big step for us, but we just want to continue to push forward.”
Coach Craig Berube, also in his first season with the Maple Leafs, concurred with his captain.
“The buy-in is everything, and they’ve bought into it,” he said of his team. “It starts with our leadership group and it trickles down. That’s the bottom line.”
Berube won a Stanley Cup coaching the St. Louis Blues in 2019, and his postseason experience is one of the prime reasons he was hired by a club that has struggled to advance past Round 1.
“You’re always trying to work on your identity,” he said. “And that hasn’t stopped throughout the season.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
