Auston Matthews And The Maple Leafs Must Play Playoff-Style Hockey – Nagging Injury Or Not

With a pair of goals in a 6-2 win against the Calgary Flames on Monday night, Auston Matthews did two things: he snapped the Toronto Maple Leafs out of a two-week funk. And he reminded everyone why he is the team’s captain.

As coach Craig Berube told reporters: "That's your leader, right? Led the way. Led the way with effort, competitiveness, just work."

The fact that Matthews led while everyone in the hockey world assumes he is battling an injury was a testament to his leadership. But the question remains: with the playoffs right around the corner, should Matthews even be in the lineup during these final weeks? Or is it better to rest him so that he’s 100 percent for Game 1?

Well, if they want home-ice advantage, the answer is that Matthews needs to play. And that he needs to play like he did against the Flames if the Leafs have any hope of unseating the Florida Panthers at the top of the Atlantic Division standings.

The Leafs, who are tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic, are only two points back of the Panthers. With 15 games remaining, Toronto has to be in playoff mode. And if Matthews can do what he did against Calgary, then Toronto’s road forward will be considerably easier.

“He grabbed a hold of the room,” Berube said of Matthews’ impact on the team. “It's not good enough what's going on here and he went out, he talked, and then he walked."

Many Leafs fans may have been concerned about Matthews’ health leading up to Monday’s game — and rightfully so. Dating back to Feb. 23, Matthews had two goals in nine games before Saturday’s game against Ottawa – and astonishingly, Matthews had only one goal in the month of February. 

That simply doesn’t make sense for arguably the best goal-scorer on the planet. So you can forgive Leafs fans if they were worried there was something bigger going on health-wise with Matthews. But in his past two games, Matthews has three goals – and, more importantly, he is starting to once again look like his old, dominating self. He was the best player on the ice against the Flames, and in doing so, he took pressure off the rest of the Leafs lineup to generate offense.

That’s why Leafs fans shouldn’t be overly concerned about Matthews’ health – at least, right now. Matthews may not be at 100 percent, but that’s true of most NHL players at this time of year. And if Matthews was suffering from a serious injury, he wouldn’t be playing. But as it stands, Matthews has now 26 goals in 52 games – a pace that will give him 32 goals by the end of this regular season. That would be an excellent year for most NHLers, but if Matthews can produce goals at a better clip the rest of the way, Toronto will be a handful for anyone they take on in the post-season.

The bottom line is that Matthews will play until he can’t, even if that means playing through a minor nagging injury. And of late, he’s looking like a danger to his opponent each and every shift he takes. That’s terrific news for the Leafs and bad news for the rest of the Atlantic’s teams. 

And the message it sends to the rest of Toronto’s lineup is clear: the time for consequence-free hockey is over. The Buds have to keep their foot on the gas and play playoff-style hockey from this point through the rest of the year. And Matthews has to lead the way for them.

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