TORONTO – Of course this would be one of those nights where Auston Matthews bent the game with will and his growing collection of skills.
Of course.
“I think the big players do things in big moments just because they do what they do,” Mike Babcock was saying Monday in the hours before his Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. “They don’t deviate. They just believe they’re meant to be there and the more heat that’s on, the more they like it, the more they relish the opportunity.”
Never mind that Babcock was responding to a question about Jonathan Toews when he provided the answer. Held up to a different light – after the Leafs had recovered from a sluggish start and erased a late deficit and skated the Blackhawks into submission – it applied more aptly to his own star centre.
While this wasn’t anything close to a “big moment” for a Blackhawks roster gilded with gold medals and diamond-encrusted Cup rings, it meant something here in Toronto. This was a chance to measure progress while staring down your heroes.
“This was a big game for us as far as who we were up against,” Matthews said after freezing the clock at 3:43 of overtime.
He proved to be much more than the Blackhawks could reasonably handle. A year ago, Matthews pointed to an early-season game in Chicago as the one he was most looking forward to because he’d grown up idolizing Toews and Patrick Kane.
The novelty doesn’t appear to have worn off.
After the Leafs stumbled early and fell behind 2-0, Matthews started pushing the play in a positive direction. He circled back in the offensive zone and intercepted pucks bound for a clean breakout. He led a rush early in the second period with linemate William Nylander that resulted in a couple dangerous chances on Blackhawks goalie Anton Forsberg.
In a game frequently disrupted by penalties amid a league-wide crackdown on slashing violations – “the new normal,” quipped James van Riemsdyk – the 5-on-5 play became notably lopsided in Toronto’s favour.
Matthews had his way in a matchup against Artem Anisimov, with the Leafs controlling an incredible 20-3 edge in shot attempts while he was on the ice at even strength. The shots on goal were 12-0 in those situations, according to Corsica.hockey.
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The fact he delivered the overtime winner was almost secondary to the overall performance – even though his rush up the ice and look-off wrist shot over Forsberg’s shoulder are plenty worthy of the highlight reels.
“For a guy that size he can move,” Toews said of Matthews. “He’s just got his head up and there’s not too many guys with that skill level that he has. Late in the game, we gave him one too many chances and he’s the type of player that’s going to make you pay. He’s good at kind of finding the soft areas.
“I think he does a lot of things similar to Kaner, the way he’s smart playing without the puck. Unfortunately, we couldn’t quite keep him off the scoresheet tonight. He got a big one for his team.”
That has been a recurring theme over the 91 career NHL games where Matthews has now scored 46 times. This was his second overtime winner to go with the one he got on Jan. 1 in the Centennial Classic.
Big games, big moments.
The Leafs have started this season in a manner that suggests there will be more to come. They left Winnipeg Jets star Patrik Laine saying he was “ashamed” after a 7-2 beating on opening night. Then they chased Henrik Lundqvist with five goals in the first period of an 8-5 victory over the New York Rangers.
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“We played a team with a lot of young players – you know, they’re the face of the league now,” Lundqvist told Sportsnet’s Christine Simpson of the Leafs afterwards. “They’re so skilled that if you’re not ready as a goalie and as a group together, it’s going to be a tough one.”
It’s not as though the Blackhawks arrived here unprepared. They’re off to their own circus-like start to this season and clearly carry a healthy respect for the blossoming talent at Air Canada Centre.
Still, veteran coach Joel Quenneville left the building remarking: “They’ve got some really good young players. It gives us something to think about.”
“You know what that team wants to do,” added Toews. “They’re so good with their transition, they’re good at throwing the puck back up the ice when you turn it over at their blue line or we don’t get pucks behind them. We didn’t seem to keep them in their end the way we wanted to.
“We gave them a lot of rushes even in overtime. … Just one 2-on-1 after another.”
When Matthews found himself with one of those you just knew what was coming next: Wrist shot, goal horn, spirited celebration.
Of course.
