The Maple Leafs did everything they possibly could to get Matthews his 70th goal on Tuesday, but now head coach Sheldon Keefe is left with a difficult decision.
The Maple Leafs did everything they possibly could to get Matthews his 70th goal on Tuesday, but now head coach Sheldon Keefe is left with a difficult decision.
SUNRISE, Fla. — Auston Matthews had his career-high goal-scoring streak snapped at eight games on Tuesday in a Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena.
Matthews, who had 10 goals in that span leading up to the game, had a team-high five shots on goal, and you could tell the club badly wanted to get the milestone over with so that they could potentially rest for the forward for their final regular season game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.
So will Matthews, who has 69 goals this season, get one last crack at 7
"We'll talk about it, we've got 12 healthy forwards," Keefe said.
The Maple Leafs are without Max Domi (undisclosed) and Bobby McMann (lower-body). Calle Jarnkrok made the trip but remains out with a hand injury and might return for the playoffs. But the Leafs do have three extra defensemen and it's quite possible the club could dress seven or eight of them to rest a couple of forwards.
But Toronto's desperation to for Matthews to get 70 was painfully obvious when they pulled the goalie late in the game down three goals with just over a minute left to go. Having already surrendered an empty-net goal and the result pretty much done, Keefe put Matthews out there for 6-on-4 and 6-on-5 situations.
"That's less about Auston, it's more about the fact that we got a chance to work on our 6-on-5 and get some reps at that, and some 6-on-4 against a really good team," Keefe said. "You take advantage of those opportunities, especially against a team like that, that really challenges you. Yeah, Auston plays a role in that, but that for me is more about getting us some reps in a very important part of the game here with playoffs approaching."
Keefe is essentially stuck in a no-win situation. The was essentially over and presented in a last-ditch effort to get Matthews his 70th so he could rest his star player for the final game. Although it's plausible that Keefe would want to work on reps given that his club just dropped their third consecutive game, the Leafs head coach admitted on Saturday that he was caught up in helping Matthews reach a milestone that no NHLer has accomplished in more than 30 years. For that reason and the injuries, Matthews will likely dress, but it's certainly a situation he was looking to avoid.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice made a good point earlier on Tuesday about how many days are left before the playoffs begin that resting players doesn't make a lot of sense with the playoffs beginning on Saturday at the very earliest.
But anything can happen in a game, particularly one that has no meaning.
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