Spaling, who scored just the one time in 35 games with the Maple Leafs, got his second of the season with a rocket fired on his first shift with the club.
Matthias answered with his second of the season, cleaning up the crease roughly 10 minutes later, and ensuring that ex-Leafs would account for all the goal-scoring in the period.
Spaling was considered a throw-in along with defenseman Roman Polak in a deal that saw the Leafs add a pair of second-round picks to their collection of draft tickets.
Matthias was had for a fourth-round pick and a prospect.
Alex Galchenyuk scored two goals, Mike Condon made 33 saves and the Montreal Canadiens topped the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals 4-3 on Wednesday night.
The Canadiens built a 3-0 lead and chased Capitals goalie Braden Holtby i...
GATINEAU, Que. - Mathieu Bellemare stopped all 18 shots he faced as the Gatineau Olympiques shut out the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 3-0 on Wednesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.
Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau scored twice — includi...
Brad Marchand is staking his claim as a premier scorer, and it's affecting how the Boston Bruins proceed with Loui Eriksson as the NHL's trade deadline rapidly approaches.
First, some numbers.
With a goal in Wednesday's 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Marchand continued to up his career high, with only three players recording more than his 31 this season.
Player
Games Played
Goals
Alex Ovechkin (WSH)
56
39
Patrick Kane (CHI)
62
35
Jamie Benn (DAL)
61
32
Tyler Seguin (DAL)
61
31
Brad Marchand (BOS)
55
31
Marchand, 27, is in the penultimate season of a four-year, $18-million deal signed back in 2013, and will therefore be looking for a tidy raise based on how his overall game has improved since that time. He'll be eligible to sign an extension with the Bruins as early as July 1, a date that coincides with Eriksson's impending foray into unrestricted free agency.
The conundrum for general manager Don Sweeney, then, is trying to retain Eriksson's services while also not handcuffing his team in terms of salary obligations over the next several years.
Reports, however, suggest negotiations aren't going well between the Bruins and Eriksson.
Ongoing contract discussions between Loui Eriksson and the Bruins. It's believed a significant gap remains in both term and $. #TradeCentre
With 23 goals and 25 assists, Eriksson has recorded one more point than Marchand, and will certainly be looking to parlay a strong season into a long-term, high-money deal that will carry him into his mid- to late-thirties.
But the reality is the Bruins, who have major deficiencies on the blue line, won't be able to both meet Eriksson's demands and sign Marchand to the kind of extension he'll warrant.
So in the immediate future, the question becomes whether to trade Eriksson, keep him for a potential Stanley Cup run and risk losing him for nothing on the open market this summer, or, ideally, sign him to a more team-friendly extension that leaves room for Marchand's big deal and allows the team to address other areas of the lineup.
Eriksson, of course, is under no obligation to take a hometown discount, and although the Bruins are no doubt celebrating Marchand's break out, his looming free agency is indeed greatly affecting what the Bruins choose to do with his fellow winger.
BOSTON - David Pastrnak had two goals, including one on a penalty shot, and the Boston Bruins blew past the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Wednesday night.
Boston outscored Pittsburgh 14-3 while sweeping the three-game season series.
Tuukka Ra...
MIke Condon has brought his best for the league's best.
The Montreal Canadiens netminder wisely kept with his momentum despite being caught turning in the wrong direction in order to deny Mike Richards of his second goal as a member of the Washington Capitals with an unorthodox, but absolutely brilliant blocker save.
The goal also marked the first-ever penalty-shot attempt by a Bruin against the Pittsburgh Penguins, according to PittsburghHockey.net, and contributed to another Bruins record:
With Pastrnak's goal, this marks the first time in #NHLBruins history the team has tallied 3 penalty shot goals in one season.
VANCOUVER - Defenceman Philip Larsen was acquired by the Vancouver Canucks in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
Edmonton gets a fifth round conditional pick in the 2017 NHL draft in return.
The 26-year-old Larsen is curre...
Larsen, a former fifth-round selection with 125 games of NHL tread, has spent the last two seasons in the KHL after a 30-game stint (in which he netted 12 points) with Edmonton in 2013-14.
TSN's Bob McKenzie is reporting that the fifth-round pick could be elevated to a fourth-round selection should Larsen hit production thresholds.
The Oilers, who acquired Larsen in the Shawn Horcoff trade, extended the slight defenseman a qualifying offer before he bolted to Russia, thus retaining his rights.
The fifth-round pick used to land Larsen is the second 2017 draft selection that the rebuilding Canucks have parted with.
McKenzie also notes that Vancouver intends to sign Larsen before July 1, and have him join the team for next season.
The Western Hockey League's leading scorer is an undrafted free agent who appears to have plenty of suitors, including the Calgary Flames.
Dryden Hunt, 20, who has recorded 49 goals and 50 assists in 61 games for the Moose Jaw Warriors, is drawing serious interest from at least five NHL teams, according to Darren Dreger of TSN.
The Flames are believed to be one of the clubs in hot pursuit of the Cranbrook, British Columbia native, with a decision coming possibly as early as next week.
Hunt has appeared in 258 WHL games over the past four years, totaling 108 goals and 124 assists for a 0.90 point-per-game average.