Auston Matthews Keeps Toronto Alive With Overtime Winner
4 years agoToronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews took 10 shots on Friday night, but his final one was the most important as it capped off Toronto's comeback effort and pushed the series to Game 5. Toronto found itself down 3-0 in the third period, one game after letting a three-goal lead slip away themselves, and exploded for three goals in four minutes. All three goals came from Toronto's top six and at even-strength. Matthews, Mitchell Marner, Zach Hyman, and William Nylander each recorded two points in that flurry of goals. In overtime, the clincher came from Matthews on the power-play with assists from Tavares and Marner. After swapping players between their top two lines earlier in the series, Toronto blended their top two lines more during play as Matthews had more than 10 minutes of ice time each with Marner, Tavares, and Hyman. This approach could make building a stack for Toronto more complicated, but the early returns are that it increases the value of their top-end pieces like Matthews.
Source: NHL.com
Source: NHL.com