APRIL 6, 2026. THE AIR CANADA CENTRE IN TORONTO, ON. ATLANTA OILERS (43–26–12) VS. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (81–0–0). 2ND PERIOD.
Toronto goal, his 36th of the game and 7324th of the season, scored by #34 Auston Matthews. Unassisted.
FAN 1: Pretty good game for him.
FAN 2: Ain’t bad. Ain’t the game he put up Saturday, but it ain’t bad.
FAN 1: Well, you can’t expect 102 goals every night.
Toronto goal, his 37th of the game and 7325th of the season, scored by #34 Auston Matthews. Unassisted.
FAN 1: His contract’s up after this season, isn’t it?
FAN 2: Yeah. He’ll end up re-signing, though. I’m not worried.
FAN 1: You sure?
FAN 2: Of course. Who else is going to pay him $65 million a year?
FAN 1: True.
Toronto goal, his 38th of the game and 7326th of the season, scored by #34 Auston Matthews. Unassisted.
FAN 1: Remember when he first broke in?
FAN 2: Of course I do. Four goals in his first game. Only four! And we were all so excited.
FAN 1: I mean, to be fair, that was pretty damn amazing.
FAN 2: For the time, sure.
FAN 1: And then he cooled down, and Babcock got on him, started benching him and all that.
FAN 2: Damn! Mike Babcock. Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a while.
FAN 1: He’s coaching Vegas now, isn’t he? He’s a good coach. Just not what we needed.
FAN 2: Yeah. Remember how he kept making Matthews leave the ice? Take “shifts”, or whatever they’re called?
FAN 1: Like I said, good coach. Just a little too stuck in his ways.
Toronto goal, his 39th of the game and 7327th of the season, scored by number 34 Auston Matthews. Unassisted.
FAN 2: Yeah, once we let Matthews coach and play we were off to the races.
FAN 1: Yup. New Year’s Day, 2019. I’ll remember it forever.
FAN 2: Everyone thought Shanahan was crazy. They fired Babcock, traded Tavares and made Matthews the captain, head coach and assistant GM.
FAN 1: Kid was in tears. The expectations were insane.
FAN 2: But he reached ’em. Got his first Hart that year, and the Art Ross and the Richard, too. And we won out the season, got that first cup and never looked back.
FAN 1: Seven in a row now. Geez. You ever gonna get tired of it?
FAN 2: What, tired of winning? Hell no.
Toronto goal, his 40th of the game and 7328th of the season, scored by number 34 Auston Matthews. Unassisted.
FAN 1: You gotta admit, though. It’s weird to see what’s happened to the roster.
FAN 2: It’s smart, though. It’s basic business. The team doesn’t need anyone but Matthews to win, and he’s way too valuable to risk losing. So we gave him most of the cap and just left enough room to sign enough scrubs at the league minimum to fill out a roster. Can’t argue with it.
FAN 1: It’s just…I dunno. Like, they don’t sell anyone else’s jersey anymore. Just Matthews’s. Isn’t that weird to you?
FAN 2: Well, who else’s would anyone want to buy?
FAN 1: Fair.
Toronto goal, his 41st of the game and 7329th of the season, scored by number 34 Auston Matthews. Assisted by number 13, Mats Sundin.
FAN 1: Crazy that Sundin came back, eh?
FAN 2: Came outta nowhere. Smart of the guy, though. He never won a cup, and now he has a chance to do it without putting in any work. Can’t blame him.
FAN 1: They’re saying Wendel Clark might do it next year.
FAN 2: Heck, I’d love to see that.
Atlanta goal, her 4th of the game and 56th of the season, scored by number 28, Amanda Kessel. Assisted by number 68, Jaromir Jagr.
FAN 1: Damn it.
FAN 2: Hey, Matthews has to take a breather some time.
FAN 1: Yeah, yeah. Still, I really thought we were gonna hold ’em to less than 8 goals tonight.
FAN 2: Eh, you had to know Kessel was gonna break it open at some point.
FAN 1: Heard she’s probably gonna win another Hart this year.
FAN 2: Only ’cause they banned Matthews from winning it.
FAN 1: Well, obviously.
Toronto goal, his 42nd of the game and 7330th of the season, scored by number 34 Auston Matthews. Unassisted.
FAN 2: He’s got 7 cups, 7 Conn Smythes, 8 Rocket Richards, 7 Art Rosses, and he got 4 Harts before they stopped him.
FAN 1: The Norris, too. Remember, last season? He got bored and decided to play defence for the year.
FAN 2: Weird year. He barely broke 6000 goals.
FAN 1: Got his first assist since ’21, too.
FAN 2: Really weird year.
FAN 1: Gets me thinking, though. He’s won so much. What else is there for him?
FAN 2: Well, he hasn’t won a Selke.
FAN 1: Heh.
Toronto goal, his 43rd of the game and 7331st of the season, scored by number 34 Auston Matthews. Unassisted.
FAN 1: Seriously, though. The team hasn’t even lost a game in 6 seasons. How long ‘till he decides enough’s enough? He’s gotta get bored of it some time, right?
FAN 2: I sure hope not. God, I sure hope not.
— — — — — — — — —
The final score of this game ended up being 88–12 for Toronto, who finished their season with an 82–0–0 record. Auston Matthews, of course, scored all 88 of Toronto’s goals, bringing his season’s total to 7376. Amanda Kessel ended the game with 6 goals and 3 assists and would go on to win her second Hart Trophy. For the seventh straight season, Toronto swept through the playoffs and, for the eighth straight season, they hoisted the Stanley Cup. In the offseason, Auston Matthews signed a 10-year, $700 million contract which was largely considered to be a bargain. He ended up playing 17 more seasons for the Leafs before his retirement, at which point the NHL folded.
