First off... April Fools....No discussion has been had to this point about playoff overtimes being decided with a shootout...I know as well that Gary Bettman is a HUGE fan of playoff overtimes staying as they are...I have discussed this with him personally in the past..(name drop)
Onto Wednesday's battle!
In this corner...
Coming in at 6 foot 205 pounds...The right-handed center who on his U16 midget team at Shattuck-St Mary's once averaged more than two points per game at the midway point. As a 16-year-old Moosehead in Halifax he tore apart the Q in a league with many 18 and 19-year-olds...once scoring 5 goals in a game....and then taking Halifax to its first-ever Memorial Cup win...he was taken first overall by the Avalanche in 2013..won the Calder his rookie year. He was a Hart Trophy Finalist but lost to Taylor Hall. In the NHL he scored 402 points in 456 Regular Season Games...along with 29 points in 25 playoff games....He's known as one of the best players in the world, despite being the second-best player from Cole Harbor, Nova Scotia....Nathan MacKinnon...
And in this corner....
Coming in at 6 foot 3, 220, born in California, but famously raised in the Arizona Desert, he grew up idolizing Shane Doan and Danny Briere...His father claimed baseball was his best sport...despite being drafted into the WHL he opted to play for the USA Development program where he shattered Patrick Kane's 102 point season record by putting up 116 points...he then skirted World Juniors all-together to go and play in Switzerland pro for a season...In 2016 he was drafted first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who played the season prior essentially to get the shot at drafting him...he scored four goals in his first NHL game...His 40 goals as a rookie set a Leafs record. He holds an NHL record for taking at least one shot a game for his first 103 NHL games... He has scored 205 points in 212 regular-season games and 15 points in 20 playoff games. The King of Scottsdale...Auston Matthews...
Similarities...
Both Auston and Nathan play with an edge and aren't afraid to crash the net...Both have shown a flair for big moments...both played together for Team North America at the World Cup of Hockey...
Individual strengths...
Mackinnon is better at.... skating and passing...
Matthews is better at...shooting and receiving passes...
Who's better?
TOUGH ONE! Two of my top 10 favorite players in the game...but I have to go with Auston Matthews.
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