Auston Matthews is back to his old habits again
Auston Matthews, freshly clean shaven, is back to his goal-scoring best, and back in the Rocket Richard conversation.
On the latest episode of In The Mentions, Omar asks if opponents have forgotten who Auston Matthews is since the Maple Leafs forward shaved his moustache. He also wonders what is going on with inconsistent officiating after the Leafs-Jets debacle.
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Video Transcript
- And the Toronto Maple Leafs seem like they're getting back into old habits, both good habits and not so good habits. On the negative end, the winds aren't coming as frequently.
They had their interesting game against the Minnesota Wild, which they were down 3-0, were able to battle back, but lost. Then there was the Winnipeg Jets game. And we'll talk about that.
But the thing that's I guess that stands out the most is that the team has been really focusing on old, old defense where it's not only the defenders who are defending, but also the fours that are getting back in good positions to help out the defenders. And the Leafs just haven't been doing that as of late and actually resulted in a lot of deficits. And if it wasn't for Jack Campbell against the Minnesota Wild, who knows if they even get that single point in the shootout.
Now, on the positive end of things when it comes to getting back to old habits, Auston Matthews is scoring a lot more, which is actually pretty solid, considering the fact that he just shaved his signature mustache. But it seems like a lot of the teams are maybe forgetting who he is because a lot of the goals he's scoring, he's left completely alone in front of the net. Like what are you doing?
It's like the Alexander Ovechkin thing. Ovechkin will probably go down as the greatest goal scorer of all time. But once the power play hits, he's wide open on the left side.
And a lot of these goals Matthews just left wide open. He had some quick hands right in front of the Colorado net, put a-- roofed it over. And it was a ridiculous goal to the point where a lot of fans reacted. And actually, this fan in particular asked me what Dragon Ball Z moment would I compare this to? Definitely a point blank Kamehameha right to [INAUDIBLE] face. Great moment.
If Mathews is continuing to go on this goal scoring streak, then him being in the Rocket Richard conversation again isn't too crazy of an idea. Yes, Ovechkin is going off and Draisaitl is going off. But Matthews is just as good as them when it comes to scoring.
And again, it seems like he's really getting his confidence back. I mean, just look at this face. This is the face of a very bad but confident player. And the Leafs really need that, especially as the season goes on and right into the playoffs.
