For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page. *******
The Toronto Maple Leafs were bleeding points and losing ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race and needed someone to step up after losing four straight games entering the second of their four-game Western swing against the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
Cue the entry music for Auston Matthews.
The NHL’s leading goal scorer put on a show at the Saddledome with a hat trick and an assist in a 4-3 victory. After Yegor Sharangovich and former Leaf Nazem Kadri staked Calgary to a 2-0 first-period lead, Matthews replied late in the opening frame to blunt the Flames momentum and followed that up with the tying goal early in the second, assisted on Mitch Marner’s power-play marker and notched his 37th goal of the season for the eventual game-winner.
AUSTON MATTHEWS 🎩🎩🎩
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) January 19, 2024
IT'S 34'S WORLD! pic.twitter.com/XoE8uQK6cP
“When he is scoring, obviously, the team can relax. Now you are scoring goals. You are feeling good. In this case, tonight, we are coming back and building a lead. It helps everybody relax.… Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “That is what elite players do. We are very fortunate to have him as part of our group. He scored big goals tonight, but he also defended extremely hard. Once we got the lead, we needed him to defend, compete, and lead the way that way. I thought he was great in that regard.…
The Flames cut the Toronto lead to 4-3 before the end of the second, filling fans of the Blue and White with the feeling of impending doom since they have blown leads in their four losses. Calgary thought they had tied the game midway through the third period, but Connor Zary’s goal was overruled after a Leafs video review request because Flames forward Blake Coleman was ruled to have altered the course of the puck in the offensive zone with a glove.
the Leafs review team are nuts lol
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) January 19, 2024
the goal is called back pic.twitter.com/BogJjBtsQj
“(Video coaches Jordan Bean and Sam Kim are) vital. You guys get to see it when we have these challenges and key moments. They’re so dialed in. But I see it every day just because they allow this whole thing to run.… Keefe said. “There is so much that goes on with the coaching staff, how we communicate with the players, and how we prepare the team. You get to see it on display with the challenges, but those guys are MVPs on our staff every day.…
Toronto continues their road swing with back-to-back games in the Pacific Northwest, with a Saturday night match against the Vancouver Canucks and on Sunday against the Seattle Kraken.
Gord Miller just said that Nazem Kadri is hoping to send #Leafs fans home disappointed tonight in Calgary. Well, he's an expert at letting Toronto fans down, so that shouldn't be a problem for him.
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) January 19, 2024
*******
Please Subscribe to the Off The Post page on YouTube