Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov (35) makes a save as Winnipeg Jets left wing Pierre-Luc Dubois (80) looks for a rebound during third period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Jan. 19.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
As the NHL’s reigning most valuable player and a two-time goal-scoring champion, Auston Matthews hardly needs an audition to clarify his position as one of the league’s biggest all-stars.
However, having failed to punch his ticket to next month’s South Florida showcase when the original all-star rosters were released earlier this month, he was announced as one of the 12 beneficiaries of the fan vote late Thursday, just minutes after his two goals led the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
Matthews will now join Leafs teammate Mitch Marner in Sunrise, Fla., for the all-star festivities on Feb. 3-4, while Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and teammate Josh Morrissey will be there on behalf of the Jets organization.
Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe was certainly quick to recognize the star qualities of his first-line centre after Thursday’s win kept the second-placed Leafs ahead of the hard-charging Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division.
“I loved how Auston went out and took charge of the game to start the second period,” Keefe said after his team’s second straight win. “That was excellent.”
Keefe couldn’t have asked for a better response at that moment from his players after seeing his team outshot 16-6 in the opening frame by the Jets, who entered play as the top team in the Western Conference.
Just eight seconds had ticked off the clock when Matthews blew a wrist shot by Connor Hellebucyk – who finished with 23 saves – in the Winnipeg goal.
And Matthews quickly doubled that lead with the eventual game winner 3:39 after the opener, again taking a pass from winger Michael Bunting before finding the net for his 24th goal of the season.
“He’s feeling it, he’s shooting it well and when he’s doing that it’s obviously good for us,” Bunting said. “I don’t doubt that he will keep bringing his game to another level every single time he’s out there.”
The two-goal outing was just his second multi-goal game of the season – the other was Nov. 5 against Boston – and was the fifth goal Matthews has scored in his last four games, although he missed two games last week through a combination of injury and illness.
The current streak is an encouraging sign that the back-to-back Rocket Richard Trophy winner as the league’s leading goal scorer is once again finding his best form.
“He does what it takes for us to win games,” Keefe said. “And that comes in different ways.”
Matthews, who is now tied with William Nylander for the team lead with 24 goals, was bringing more than just his offence in the win over the Jets. With Winnipeg trying to get back into the game in the third period, Matthews laid out to make a huge block to help preserve the victory.
That level of sacrifice didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates.
“Everybody asks me about Auston,” said goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who saved 37 of the 38 shots directed his way. “It’s good. It’s so good. I like what Auston is doing. Everybody sees what he’s doing and If he’s blocking shots then everybody needs to block shots.”
While Matthews drove the lion’s share of the offence, he also received help from the team’s leading scorer, Mitch Marner, who scored his 17th goal of the season with a shorthanded effort just past the midway point of the game. Defenceman Mark Giordano iced the victory with an empty-netter with 2:27 to play.
Kyle Connor got the lone Jets goal, on a power play four minutes into the third period, but Samsonov ensured that that was as close as they got to overturning the Leafs’ lead.
“As the game went on, I liked how our guys didn’t go away, especially in the third period,” defenceman Nate Schmidt said. “But you just can’t really spot them three.”
After seeing his team start its season-long five-game road trip with a 4-1 loss in Montreal on Tuesday, Jets head coach Rick Bowness admitted his team was better on Thursday, despite losing by an identical scoreline.
Certainly, after dominating the Leafs in the opening period, Winnipeg was very much in the contest.
“We had a much better effort, much better compete,” Bowness said. “The mistakes we made with their best players on the ice were glaring. To me, we gave them the first three goals – that’s all on us. You give those guys – Matthews and Marner – those chances, they’re going to score.”
The Jets, who were one of the hottest teams in the league coming into Thursday’s contest, going 8-2 in their previous 10, now head to Ottawa to take on the Senators on Saturday, while the Leafs have an appointment in Montreal against the Canadiens.