A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. Trust me, Dylan Larkin ain’t the only one who gets booed at home.
1. There is a brief off-ice moment caught by the Toronto Maple Leafs' Blueprint cameras after the club’s thrilling OT comeback win over the Nashville Predators Tuesday that speaks volumes on the state of Auston Matthews.
Before the game-winning goal-scorer glides out for his second-star twirl at Scotiabank Arena, he giddily tells first star Gavin McKenna in the tunnel: “I’m gonna stay for your applause. That’s how (expletive) pumped I am.”
Pumped was seldom an adjective that applied to Toronto’s captain in 2025-26, outside of Team USA’s golden adventure in Italy, of course.
Before his season got ended prematurely by a greasy hit, it already looked over. Matthews battled pain and a lack of legitimate top-six wingers and a dump-and-chase offence that clearly left him uninspired.
For the first time in his career, the one-time Hart Trophy champ failed to score 30 goals or 60 points. He wasn’t as engaged physically as he’d been in the past. He wasn’t the best version of himself. Wasn’t even the best player on his own team.
Joy was elusive.
Perhaps one of the most meaningful changes in Leafland over a summer brimming with them is that Matthews appears genuinely pumped again. Healthy and happy.
On the ice, no doubt. He’s playing to his six-foot-three, 214-pound frame. He’s better than a point per game. Coach Jim Hiller is throwing him out for 74.7 offensive-zone starts, on pace for a career high. GM John Chayka invited the whole team to Arizona and acquired three fast, intriguing wingers — Jack Roslovic, Gavin McKenna, Kirill Marchenko — before the puck dropped. The Leafs’ internal data tracks the 29-year-old skating faster than he has in the past five years.
And that night McKenna got first star? Matthews was the best player on the ice, throwing down four points.
“There were lots of players that played really well, but I really felt something special from Auston,” Hiller said. “If you go back and watch that game, just go shift by shift, you’ll see all the great things that have been said about him. Really, they’re all there in that game.
“It was his will to win.”
Anecdotally, off the ice, Matthews appears equally engaged.
He yaps it up with Nick Paul and Roslovic in the room. He invited McKenna over for a sleepover before the rookie broke out and speaks excitedly about the energy the next No. 1 has ushered into the oldest dressing room in the East (average age of a Maple Leaf: 31.5).
Who knows what the future holds? Here and now, Matthews is present.
“In some ways, it’s not surprising. In other ways, it’s always amazing to see him be a part of it because of how great of a player he is,” John Tavares said. “Certainly, with the ups and downs personally he’s had over the last couple of years, in some ways, I think a bit of a blessing in disguise to get the seven months he got to almost start from scratch in a way, to build himself back up and work on some things and see how he can improve and use it as a chance to kind of approach things maybe a little different way.”
The importance of goal scoring — Matthews’ knack for it, and the Leafs’ dependency on him to do it — is a given. But Tavares, like the rest of us, has noticed an uptick in 34’s competitiveness through these first five games.
“He can do anything he wants to do,” Tavares said. “So amazing to see the way he drove the team.”
They need him to keep driving.
2. Love the variety of celebration anthems selected by the Anaheim Ducks this season.
Phil Collins, ABBA, Pop Smoke, Bluey, Billy Squier, Lil Baby, Rage Against the Machine… Orange County is making nights at the barn fun and unpredictable.
Long live the personalized goal song!
3. Marchenko was a Matthews fan not only before he joined his team but before he set foot in North America.
“When I was in Russia, I’m wearing 34 number,” Marchenko smiles. “You can find the pictures in the junior team. Because he starts to score the goals, I think, 'OK, if I wear this number, I score goals too.'"
When the goals didn’t flow at quite a Rocket rate, the speedy winger decided to honour another idol. He borrowed Nikita Kucherov’s 86 and hasn’t looked back.
“Now I love it,” he says.
Naturally, Marchenko grew up idolizing countrymen Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Alex Ovechkin — the godfather to his style.
A young Marchenko found out what stick Ovechkin used and bought the same one. He shot with the same curve. He slipped yellow laces through the holes in his skate boots. He switched to a tinted visor and still uses one.
Marchenko’s dark eye shield doubles as an homage and an alibi.
“Sometimes if I miss some good pass, I just say, ‘Guys, my visor’s tinted. I didn’t see you.’ Just giving me good excuses right now,” Marchenko chuckles.
Marchenko had just stepped off the ice from practice Monday when he learned that Ovechkin would be hanging up his visor and yellow laces for good.
“A beautiful career. Everybody knows he’s one of the best players of all time. Best goal scorer, for sure,” Marchenko says. “And it means a lot for me, for Russian guys for sure, and we want to say thank you for him.”
4. Monday is the 10th anniversary of Auston Matthews’ four-goal debut. (Feel old?) To mark to occasion, colleague Emily Sadler is dropping a full oral history recounted by those who were in Ottawa that historic, rap-song-inspiring night.
Here are some recollections from other NHLers who took notice.
Logan Cooley, impressionable U.S. star: “It was sick. I remember I was coming out of practice, and you hear all the hype about him, and I remember turning my phone on, and everything’s blowing up. Scoring one in your first game is special. Then you get two, and three is like, ‘All right, wow, this is actually happening.’ Four just tops it off. Seeing what he's done now in this league is obviously special, an American player, and someone I definitely watched growing up.”
Connor McDavid, the previous No. 1 pick: “We were playing in Edmonton that night. It was our opening night too. We were opening Rogers Place. There was a lot of anticipation for that night in Edmonton. Like all nights, (the Oilers) watched the early games together, and it was unbelievable to watch. Guys were running around: ‘He scored again. He scored.’ He just kept scoring. It was unbelievable. But it was still a big night for us too, and it was motivating to watch him do that, and then go play our game. And we had a great night too (defeating the Flames 7-4). It was a special night in Edmonton.”
Wyatt Johnston, Torontonian: “I remember watching the game. As a 19-year-old, very impressive to score four goals in your first game. So, that was pretty cool. For Leaf fans and for the city, it was exciting to see that superstar talent and someone that can take the team to newer heights. And for me, being a young kid watching, it was really cool to see. Just so impressed with that first game.”
Frank Nazar, another awestruck American: “I was at a tournament in Toronto or somewhere nearby, and we were all watching on TV. Just my whole team. Being from the U.S., I obviously rooted for him. To score four is pretty incredible. Just to see him come in and make that impact right away, as a young kid, it was very inspirational. Set that standard. He made his special day very special.”
Robert Thomas, Greater Torontonian then playing in London: “I do remember watching that game. Just the excitement. Obviously, four goals for the first game — is that a record or pretty close to it? (Yes.) I mean, that speaks for itself. That’s pretty cool. I just remember you could feel the city, how excited they were for a guy of his talent to come to Toronto. You could feel that one in London, for sure.”
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, onetime Arizonan and future teammate: “Being in Arizona at the time and hearing that was a kid from Arizona was pretty special. It was fun following him and watch that game. Obviously, to score four goals, super happy for him. And now, to get to know him and be around him every single day, I’m so happy and proud of him for who he is and the type of player he is. So, he deserves everything that he has got so far.”
Matthews, on his mom’s reaction to his goals in the stands: “It’s hard to watch sometimes. Honestly, like, I feel like I get emotional. Like I said, my parents mean everything to me, and I wouldn't be here without them. Just the love and support throughout my whole childhood, and my sister’s as well. We've always really felt that that love and support from them. We feel very lucky.”
5. Quote of the Week.
“The cheese was unreal.” — Gavin McKenna, describing his first chicken parm in Vegas
6. Chris Marner, Mitchell’s proud older brother, designed a couple of special hats, one to honour Mitch’s Vegas playoff run and another one for his heroics with Team Canada.
“A 3D printed photo of my celebration after my Sweden overtime winner (from 4 Nations). So, I have those two. He’s made my mom a couple that have been phenomenal. But it’s amazing to see him fall in love with doing this, starting his own shop, getting everything going through social media, which is how everyone kind of gets going nowadays, which is beautiful. So, it seems like it's blowing up and getting better,” Mitch told Kyle Bukauskas during the Player Media Tour.
Chris was gifted with an artistic gene, Mitch explained. As a young lad, Chris entered a contest held by Double Bubble that invited aspiring artists to draft a chewing gum advertisement.
“They would send you bubble gum for a year straight. And so, my brother made a sick one of a kid blowing a big bubble, and in it said ‘Double Bubble,’ and sent it to them. He actually won it, which was super cool,” Mitch beamed.
“I destroyed it too. I ended up with cavities all over my mouth. That was terrible for me, but it was amazing.”
7. Marner complimented captain Mark Stone’s tight-area plays Thursday, then added this:
“The maniac in him as well. That’s one of my favourites. When he gets mad, he gets goin’. He’s throwin’ his body around. He’s a guy that’s not afraid to fight anyone. That’s what you love out of your captain. Even seeing him on the ice when someone scores a goal, how excited he gets, it’s pretty remarkable.”
8. When he’s not training in the off-season, Cooley gets away from the game at the family lake house outside Pittsburgh. Plenty of waterskiing, fishing and tubing with dad Eric steering the boat, devilishly.
“You leave with a few bruises, for sure,” Cooley smiles.
When the Mammoth star is training, however, it’s often with fellow Pittsburgher Vincent Trocheck. Cooley has known Utah’s new two-way centre since he was 10 years old and played a role in recruiting him.
“I was definitely trying to get him here. I told him that he’s gonna love it. But before (the July 1 trade) went down, he was definitely keeping me updated. And when I heard the news, I was super excited. And having another Pittsburgh guy too makes it a lot better,” says Cooley, who is 11 years younger than the gold medallist.
“I have some cousins that are really close with him, and he was always around, and we were fortunate to have him invite us out to some skates when he was always training in Pittsburgh. I just continued to skate with him throughout the years and got really close with him, and have been close ever since.”
Aggressive in the off-season and eager to build on 2026’s playoff appearance, the Mammoth not only acquired Trocheck but signed former Islanders captain Anders Lee and have explored ways to obtain the disgruntled Connor Hellebuyck and Simon Edvinsson.
“Adding the players that we did, it’s going to be a really good boost for our team,” Cooley says. “Making the playoffs is a step, but that’s not the end goal. You don’t want to just make the playoffs and lose in the first round.
“You want to be playing your best hockey down the stretch when it’s leading into playoffs. And it’s finding a balance when we’re not playing our best and we go through a little slump to find a Plan B, making sure that we're still in those games and still giving us a chance to win.”
Just because Cooley is a proud Yinzer, don’t assume he cheered for Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.
“Might be a little surprising, but my favourite team was the Washington Capitals growing up. My favourite player was Ovechkin. I feel like they were always a super-skilled team. I loved watching Ovechkin score goals. I feel like he had so much fun playing the game. You’d always see him smiling on TV with celebrations when he was scoring goals. I think what made me like him so much,” Cooley reveals.
“You know, it wasn’t always easy being a Caps fan in Pittsburgh. Would get chirped a lot for it. But 2018 was a good year when they hoisted the Cup, that’s for sure.”
9. Seen Stamkos?
Steven Stamkos whisked us back 18 years this week when the No. 1 overall pick of 2008 rolled through Toronto and reminded of his anonymity as his first NHL club’s new hope.
“I don’t think many people knew who I was in Tampa when I got drafted, so completely different set of circumstances,” the Predators sniper told reporters, in reference to McKenna.
“When you come to a place like this, it’s a pressure cooker. I walked into our hotel last night and the TV was on in the hotel, and it was all Maple Leafs, right? There’s not many cities you walk into and it’s like that. That’s just the way it is here.”
That Stamkos — who leaped Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla Tuesday to take over 17th spot on the all-time goals list — began his Hall of Fame career with an eight-game point drought didn’t stir anything close to the discourse McKenna’s three games of doughnuts did.
“It’s hard to compare and contrast,” Stamkos said. “I mean, I came in and didn’t really play too much. Coming in, I had a coach (Barry Melrose) that didn’t really think it was a league for young players, right? So, it’s different. My situation is different. You look at, (Macklin) Celebrini’s situation is different, (Connor) McDavid’s, the list goes on. The points and that sort of stuff, it will come.”
They already have: McKenna has a pair of assists and a beautiful goal since Stamkos was seen in town.
10. The Nashville Predators haven’t won a playoff round in eight-plus years and were generally circled as one of the few franchises bound for the draft lottery before the puck dropped.
Yet they’ve come out of the gates with a 2-1-1 record, punching above their weight class. Because they compete.
“That for me is the biggest thing. We’re trying to build there,” said Andrew Brunette, coaching through a contract year under a GM, Chris MacFarland, who didn’t hire him. “We want to get off to a better start than we did last year and get better every day. I mean, I don't look long term. I just look day to day. We got to get better for tomorrow.”
So, what’s the identity of this a Preds team top-heavy with 30-plus-year-old veteran all-stars?
“When we’re moving pucks out of the back end, we could be a relentless group that plays on top of you, that's strong in the offensive zone, that stays connected,” Brunette said.
“If we can get pucks moving, we can play a fast, north game, the game that we like to get into. A puck-possession, offensive-zone team that drives the net. And I think we're building on that.”
11. The Hellebuyck standoff is incredible.
Equally incredible is this fan-created website, Hellebucks.com, which tracks the salary lost by the Winnipeg Jets goaltender in real time.
Scroll down, and you’ll see how many Slurpees, lower-bowl Jets tickets and months of Winnipeg rent the three-time Vezina winner has left on the table.
As of Saturday morning, the playoff team with the worst team save percentage (.803) is the same one that nearly struck a trade for Hellebuyck in the off-season: the Buffalo Sabres.
(P.S. Winnipeg is the Slurpee capital of the world.)
12. Happy Thanksgiving. Rest in peace, Mike Ditka.
