TORONTO – The Auston Matthews that Noah Hanifin met as a young boy first caught his attention because he was from Arizona.
Later, he stood out for different reasons.
“He worked so hard,” Hanifin said Tuesday in an interview. “That’s what really kind of took him to the next level. You know especially at the U.S. (development) program, he broke his femur there (in 2013) and everyone thought he was going to be done for the year. He recovered in like three months, which is ridiculous, and came back by December and it was like he didn’t miss a beat.
“He was almost better when he came back.”
In those circles, Matthews became known as the guy who wouldn’t be denied no matter what obstacle was placed in front of him.
He remains that way today.
It helps explain why the 19-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs rookie managed a big smile when he greeted his former teammate in the hallway after a tough 2-1 loss to Hanifin’s Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. It may have been the 13th straight game where Matthews was held without a goal, but the sky wasn’t falling.
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“It’s kind of the same story, I guess,” he told reporters of his unfavourable puck luck. “If you guys want to keep writing the same thing (as) the last three weeks…”
The line was delivered with a wry smile and provided yet more evidence of how incredibly in tune Matthews is with everything going on around him. He was neither frustrated nor upset, just being matter-of-fact about the situation.
No wonder coach Mike Babcock recently referred to Matthews as an umbrella – he’s comfortable soaking up most of the attention while keeping others around him dry.
Objectively, his career is off to a fantastic start. There are just three players in the entire league that have generated more than his 71 shots so far and Matthews remains on pace for 26 goals while being the only NHL rookie deployed as a top-six centreman.
The prevailing talk will almost certainly swing in that more positive direction as soon he scores a seventh goal – something that very nearly happened against Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward.
“I mean we created a lot of opportunities once again,” said Matthews. “Some chances, like the one (I batted) out of mid-air that just goes over the net, I mean that’s just kind of the way it’s going right now.”
“I thought Auston’s line was dominant tonight,” added Babcock. “They had lots of chances. The way I look it: You do good things in life, good things happen. Sometimes not as quick as you want.”
The test of patience comes just six weeks after his stunning four-goal debut in Ottawa. Sometimes hockey gives and sometimes it takes away.
Matthews remains incredibly skilled at winning puck battles along the boards and keeping possession alive in the offensive zone. Despite his tremendous individual talent, he is more than capable of delivering the kind of greasy goal Babcock felt the Leafs needed against Carolina.
“The reality is, in tight-checking games it’s not all skill,” said Babcock.
“We kind of knew going into the game they play a very similar style to us,” said Matthews. “There’s not much space out there, the neutral zone’s kind of clogged up. It was a pretty key for us that we needed to get the puck in deep and kind of outwork them down low, and I think there were parts of the game where we did that.
“We had our opportunities and we weren’t able to cash in.”
The Leafs will likely endure another tight game when they visit New Jersey on Wednesday night. There’s no reason to expect open ice and odd-man rushes and chances galore.
While the goal-less streak is obviously front of mind for Matthews, you wouldn’t know it to talk to him. Even teammate Mitchell Marner – a daily car pool companion – doesn’t seem to have much sense of how its affected him.
“He hasn’t changed at all,” said Marner. “We’re still having fun with each other, staying positive. You see it – he’s got a lot of chances around the net at all times. I’m sure he’s going to crack this very soon and when that happens it’s going to be scary.”
With all of the posts and near-misses over the past month, you might think that Matthews is ordering new sticks or finding a different driving route to the rink or trying new food on game days.
Searching for anything, really, that might change his luck.
But that’s simply not how he’s wired.
“I’m not crazy like that I guess,” said Matthews. “Not too superstitious. I have my own things that I do and that I’ve done since I was younger. I kind of just stick with it – it’s worked for me up until this point, so why change?”
History suggests that it’s more than good enough.
