The golden glow of Italy fades fast as the Toronto captain heads straight to Florida, trading an Olympic celebration for a must-win battle to save the Leafs' post-season hopes.
Auston Matthews is a winner. The Toronto Maple Leafs forward led the United States to a Gold Medal against Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the biggest team accomplishment for Toronto’s captain at any level of hockey. Doing it at a best-on-best tournament should flip the narrative that some have cast on the Arizona-born player.
And it almost didn’t happen. The Canadians looked like the better team on the ice in the final, but sometimes it just takes getting the right bounces to go your way. If Nathan MacKinnon doesn’t miss a wide-open net or USA goaltender Connor Hellebuyck doesn’t rob Devon Toews, maybe Canada takes the gold and Matthews is left to answer for a loss.
But Matthews is a winner. The rest of his Maple Leafs team, practicing back home think it’s only a good thing for their club going forward.
“I think it helps. You get the taste of winning and whatever it takes. Bounces. Luck. I think the whole experience, that’s how I felt,” Oliver Ekman-Larsson said about Matthews following his first practice with the club after representing Sweden in the tournament. “Whenever I get a chance to win something or be a part of something special, I think that’s what you take with you. You feed off and build off it. It’s great he got that experience and he was a big part of it".
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube agreed. “It’s great for him; we’re very happy for Auston. Congrats to him and the USA team. He should be excited. It's a big boost for him anytime you win something like that".
Matthews himself was asked about the moment during a press conference after the game. “I’m trying to live in the moment, c’mon, man,” Matthews said before his American teammates interjected during the joint media session.
“Doesn’t matter what anyone says now that Auston Matthews is a winner,” Jack Hughes said. Quinn Hughes added, "That's what the media in Toronto should be talking about. Auston led us to a championship". While it's unlikely anyone was going to spin it differently, the point has been made. Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner in the 2-1 victory, while Matthews played a solid defensive game.
Matthews won’t have a lot of time to enjoy the victory, with the Leafs getting ready to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in Florida on Wednesday. Matthews will fly directly to Florida to meet his teammates. It’s there where the reality of the Leafs' season becomes the focal point again. With a 27-21-9 record and sitting six points out of a playoff spot with four teams to leapfrog, it’s not going to be an easy task ahead.
“I mean, hopefully it just brings that jam and that winning mentality here, and we can find a way to string some wins together and get to a playoff spot—that's really our hope,” Matthew Knies said of Matthews. “He’s been playing this whole break, so I think he's obviously ready and can jump right back in it to try to give us a boost".