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Almost certainly, Auston Matthews will be a finalist for the Hart Trophy, as the NHL’s most valuable player.
Barring some kind of drastic change with Connor McDavid, Matthews won’t win the award but is likely to end up in the top three, which will put him in a place few Maple Leafs of the modern era have ever known.
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Doug Gilmour finished second to Mario Lemieux for the Hart in 1993, then a year later placed fourth behind winner, Sergei Fedorov. Darryl Sittler finished third once in Hart voting. Guy Lafleur won the award that year, in 1978. Mats Sundin never finished higher than eighth on the Hart ballot and Wendel Clark never did receive a Hart vote.
Author of the article: David Staples • Edmonton Journal
Publishing date: Mar 31, 2021 • 5 hours ago • 9 minute read • Connor McDavid (97) of the Edmonton Oilers battles for the puck against Auston Matthews (34) of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on March 29, 2021 in Toronto. Photo by Claus Andersen /Getty Images
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Edmonton’s recent three games on the road, with two games against Toronto and one against Montreal, saw the Oilers get three points.
That’s not bad at all when facing two of top teams in the Canadian.
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(7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio):
The matchup: The Canadiens are on a five-game losing streak although they did pick up three points for games that went into overtime. They are coming off a 0-1-3 road trip, which ended Saturday with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Jets in Winnipeg. The Canadiens outplayed the Jets for most of that game and are hoping to carry that momentum into the Bell Centre, where they are a disappointing 3-5-0 this season. The Senators are in last place in the Canadian division, but they have won four of their last five games, including two wins over the Canadiens, and are 3-1-0 against Montreal this season.
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For the second time this season, the Maple Leafs will face Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers without their own top gun, Auston Matthews.
Not good news when Saturday is the first of three games with first place in the North Division at stake. But hold off that panic button, Matthews’ nagging wrist injury is not expected to sideline him more than a game or two and Toronto already beat the Oilers 4-2 without him on the road.
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Hart Trophy Power Rankings: McDavid, Matthews going toe-to-toe thescore.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thescore.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.