'I Felt Something Special From Auston': Maple Leafs Coach Jim Hiller Indicates Auston Matthews Is Back To How He Is Remembered

The Toronto Maple Leafs' 5-4 overtime win against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena will be remembered for Gavin McKenna getting his first NHL point and goal in his young career.

But what shouldn't be lost, and it certainly wasn't in the eyes of Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller, was how captain Auston Matthews performed.

Matthews notched three assists in this contest - almost four with William Nylander's disallowed goal in the third period - and added the overtime-winning goal to cap off a historic night for the franchise.

"What I really felt was, you know, there's lots of players that played really well, but I really felt something special from Auston tonight," Hiller said after the Maple Leafs' second win of the season. "If you go back and watch that game, just go shift by shift on his game, you'll see all the great things that have been said about him. Really, they're all there in that game tonight."

Following that game, Matthews is second on the team in scoring and now has two goals and five points in four games this season.

While the 29-year-old had a monstrous performance offensively against the Predators, Hiller noted that he was all over the ice, not allowing his team to have any result other than a victory.

"It was everywhere," the head coach said. "I think it was his will to win. That was probably the biggest one. He won battles in the D-zone. He played well all over the ice, but I thought his will to win tonight was pretty strong."

Nylander, who had one goal and three points, including an assist on Matthews' overtime-winner, chimed in on the captain's performance.

"Yeah, he was humming all over the puck, you know, winning battles, and creating a lot of offense, so he was cooking," he said.

Hiller was asked further if the Matthews he saw on the ice today was similar to the player that everyone remembers him as, who is the dominant offensive force that is very difficult to stop, and capable of 40-plus goals and 100 points.

"Yeah, it really was for me," Hiller said confidently. "I thought he's been really good all the whole camp. He's working on every puck. But tonight, for me, just a little bit different tonight. And I said, from just a pure hockey perspective, to appreciate his game tonight was really a special night for him. I know he scored the overtime winner. I'm not talking about that. Just his game start to finish."

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