In Monday night’s Game 2 against the Boston Bruins, Auston Matthews delivered the goods when the Toronto Maple Leafs needed him.
After stealing a flip pass from Max Domi, Matthews broke free into the offensive zone and beat Linus Ullmark to score the game-winning goal in a 3-2 victory that leveled the series at one.
The goal broke a 2-2 deadlock in the third period, making it Matthews’ sixth career playoff game-winner and putting him in a tie for fourth place all-time in Maple Leafs team history.
With ten playoff game wins, Ted Kennedy holds the team record. Frank Mahovlich is second with nine, and Mats Sundin is third with seven.
ContentId(1.2108145): Matthews completes the alley-oop feed from Domi;
In Tuesday’s victory, Matthews not only finished tied with Ryan Reaves for the most hits by a Leafs player with six, but he also finished with three points and a team-high eight shots on goal.
“Auston, two assists and a goal,” stated head coach Sheldon Keefe. “He’s all over tonight’s stat sheet. He’s positively impacting the game for us in a lot of ways. But to me, it was all about his working style and competitiveness. He was tough and strong, dominating puck battles on the ice.
John Tavares, the team captain, continued, “[Heck] of a goal.” “The objective is one thing, clearly unique. There aren’t many guys in the world with those innate abilities, hands, and finishing touch. However, as he mentioned earlier, the competitive element, winning
