The World Cup of Hockey is serving as a preview for what excitement is in store for Toronto Maple Leafs fans this season as Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly were among the best players in a 4-3 Russia victory over Team North America at Air Canada Center in Toronto on Monday.
Matthews, who turned 19 years old over the weekend, once again played on a line with Connor McDavid and the two top picks combined for North America's opening goal, 5:14 into the first period.
Top pick to top pick; Connor McDavid sets up Auston Matthews for the opening goal.
McDavid! What a play! 😠#TeamNA #WCH2016 pic.twitter.com/bQEzT1DNob
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) September 20, 2016
After missing opportunities to extend their lead in the opening 20 minutes, the inexperience of the 23-and-under squad showed, as the Russians caught them flat-footed broke through goalie Matt Murray in the middle frame, scoring four times in just over six minutes and chasing the Stanley Cup winner in favor of John Gibson.
Rielly played without defensive partner Aaron Ekblad(scratched due to an upper body injury courtesy of a Leo Komarov hit) and led North America in ice time with 23:07 and was a key part of their climbing back into their game, scoring on a point shot late in the second and quarterbacking the power play that resulted in Ryan Nugent-Hopkin's goal that narrowed the Russian lead to 4-3 early in the third.
Two games, two 🎠for RNH. #TeamNA #WCH2016 pic.twitter.com/aRDxLPST5U
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) September 20, 2016
Head coach Todd McLellan relied heavily on Matthews throughout the game (20:57 TOI), using only McDavid more up front.
Late in the third, the top picks were reunited with Jack Eichel in hopes of tying goal late in the third and the top overall pick nearly accomplished the feat, but was stopped by goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who faced a 19-shot onslaught in the final 20 minutes.
Defenseman Nikita Zaitsev (signed by the Leafs in July) was also prominent on the evening, playing over 21 minutes (second only to defense partner Dmitri Orlov), registering an assist on Evgeni Kuznetsov's goal and leading Russia with four blocked shots.
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