Auston Matthews Heats Up in the Homestretch

Auston Matthews has not been the goal-scorer he was for the past few years, but he's lit the lamp more lately during a more physical season, says Adam Proteau.

For part of this season, Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews has not looked like himself – at least, not at the lofty standard he set with his Hart Trophy-winning performance last season. 

But that’s OK. The Leafs are deep and talented enough not to be the type of team that needs Matthews to carry them through each of their 82 regular-season games. And the much better news – at least from a Buds fan’s perspective – is that Matthews looks more like himself with every game the Leafs play this year. 

He’s not going to win the Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard Trophy for the third straight season as the NHL’s top goal-scorer, but Matthews’ all-around game has improved, and now, all he has to do is be a difference-maker in the playoffs.

Matthews generated a pair of goals in Thursday’s 6-2 Leafs win over Florida, giving him 34 goals and 73 points in 64 games this year. 

That doesn’t even make him the top scorer on his team – star winger William Nylander also scored Thursday, putting him at 36 goals in 71 games – but it’s Matthews’ efforts on the defensive side of things that has management more than pleased with the way his season is turning out. 

He’s showing maturity and an engagement that has taken time to develop, and he’s rounding into peak condition, with six goals and 12 points in his past eight games. But it’s the shot-blocking – he’s the league’s best shot-blocking forward, with 84 blocks this season – and he’s using his 6-foot-3 frame more judiciously. 

That increased physical connection might be an explanation as to why he struggled with scoring earlier this season, but Leafs brass love to see him emerging as a bigger holistic force, with the ability to force the puck into his hands and finish plays like few others.

This is not to say that Matthews was a poor player in his own zone in his first six NHL seasons. But, like most NHLers, Matthews did have to figure out the lay of the land before carving out ice and minutes for himself. Now, it isn’t that he’s simply willing himself to be in a better position at all times, but it is that he’s trusting his instincts and making better reads on defense than he has before now. 

The hype that followed him throughout his 60-goal season last year is gone, but Matthews has never craved the spotlight. So long as the Leafs were winning, he didn’t need to be on the scoresheet at all.

The one thing Matthews hasn’t done yet has been leading the Leafs out of the first round of the playoffs and going on a deep post-season run. He is no different in that regard than fellow Leafs star Mitch Marner. We know how deadly both players can be in the regular season, but until we see them being needle-movers in the playoffs, those questions are going to shadow them until further notice.

For now, though, Matthews has a few more games to tweak his craft before the big-time pressure arrives in mid-April. If he continues to do yeoman’s work along the boards, if he anticipates where the plays are headed when he doesn’t have the puck, and if he becomes an all-encompassing threat to even the most worthy opponents when the games matter most, Matthews will carve out an extra-special place in the grand history of one of hockey’s most storied franchises.