Auston Matthews Still Looking for First Goal of Playoff Series: 'You Feel Like It's Going to Go For Him'
After scoring five goals in the opening round against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews has yet to find the back of the net against the Florida Panthers.
Auston Matthews has had his chances.
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In fact, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe has twice referenced his star's scoring chance early in Game 3 when his team was down in their second-round playoff series with the Florida Panthers.
"You feel like that's the one," Keefe said. "Not only because it would have set the tone in that game and it didn't fall."
The Maple Leafs ended up in a 3-0 series hole following Game 3 and battled back for a 2-1 victory in Game 4. But there is no doubt that if Matthews had been scoring more goals, perhaps the series wouldn't be as lopsided as it has become.
As his team prepares to stave off elimination once again, Keefe stressed that as long as his best players are driving offense, the goals will eventually fall.
"While he searches for that breakout offensively, he's not hurting our team in other ways," Keefe said.
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, Matthews has been Toronto's fourth-best driver of offense with an expected-goals rating of 60 percent. And perhaps he deserves more goals than he has had in the series.
In Game 4, Matthews had a 2-on-1 opportunity at Florida's net and missed the net.
Some of this is due to Aaron Ekblad capturing a small piece of Matthews' stick.
"It's not like he's not getting looks," teammate Ryan O'Reilly said of Matthews. "It's just something you've got to be patient with. It's going to come and it's going to be a big help for us."
Matthews has been on the ice for two goals for and three goals against at 5-on-5 during the series. The Panthers have been able to capitalize on mistakes happening on Toronto's end of the ice for rush chances while defending really well.
While the Leafs got goals from William Nylander and Mitch Marner in Game 4 to keep the series alive, it's clear Toronto needs No. 34 to find the net if they want to have any chance at fully coming back in their best-of-seven series.
Toronto has scored just two goals in all four games of the series.
At this point, Keefe will take offense from just about anybody.
"As a team, we need to score more than the opposition and that's really where the focus has to be."
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