Matthews comes up big for Maple Leafs when it matters most

TORONTO -- On Aug. 23, with Auston Matthews entering the final season of his contract, the Toronto Maple Leafs showed him the money.

Forty-nine days later, the Maple Leafs forward showed exactly why they did.

Matthews admittedly wasn’t firing on all cylinders in Toronto’s season-opening 6-5 shootout victory against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday. Then again, neither were his teammates.

But when his team needed him the most, at crunch time with Toronto trailing by two goals, the 26-year-old scored twice in the final 4:32 of regulation, each coming with goalie Ilya Samsonov on the bench for an extra attacker. The final one, which came with 1:07 left to tie the game 5-5, completed the eighth hat trick of his career, setting the stage for Mitchell Marner’s shootout clincher.

“I mean, that’s what you need from your best people at times, at those times when it’s looking dire and things are slipping away,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “You need that …

“And for Auston to get off to a start like that, that’s good for him. And really good for us.”

Despite his heroics, Matthews wasn’t pounding his chest with bravado afterward. That’s not his style. In fact, he was more concerned with his team’s sloppy defensive play than his own goal-scoring exploits.

“It’s obviously nice to get off to a start like this, and nice to win the game too,” he said. “There’s obviously a lot of things we can clean up, but there were a lot of positives too. Just finding our way, keeping our heads down, just working and finding a way to win the game.”

He can downplay his exploits all he wants, but the bottom line is this: His numbers do his talking for him.

When Matthews scored his first goal of the evening at 14:51 of the second period, he became the fastest player in Maple Leafs history to score 300 NHL goals, and the fastest American player in League history to reach 300, accomplishing the feat in 482 games.

Such production is why Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving told reporters during his introductory press conference on May 31 that re-signing Matthews was his top priority. That goal was accomplished about 11 weeks later when the Scottsdale, Arizona, native agreed to a four-year, $53 million deal ($13.25 million average annual value) that kicks in after this season and keeps him in Toronto until 2028.

Asked about what a relief the contract resolution was for his teammate, normally-stoic captain John Tavares took a playful dig at Matthews.

“I think that was important for him,” Tavares said before breaking into a wry grin. “I know he kind of had it tonight, but it wasn’t even his best opening night. So, it’s kind of commonplace for him.”

True enough. The game Tavares was referring to was Oct. 12, 2016, when Matthews became the first player in modern history to score four goals in his NHL debut.

The Maple Leafs still ended up losing that game, 5-4 in overtime, at the Ottawa Senators.

This time around, Toronto came out on top thanks in part to Matthews, who had eight shots in the game and was plus-2.

“I certainly think he’s just excited to lead the way and can be great and be driven and get to where we want to get to,” Tavares said. “I think he’s talked a lot about that.

“Like any driven player, especially a special one like him, when you go through experiences you grow and mature and you learn. I think you learn on your own, even subconscious things that naturally occur and manifest themselves as to how he can help the group on and off the ice."

On Wednesday, Matthews certainly helped the Maple Leafs on the ice.

And then some.