Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Auston Matthews' Night

04/23/2024 at 3:23am EDT

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

In the final minute of Auston Matthews’ tour de force, with overtime seemingly looming, with the Boston Bruins buzzing, with Ilya Samsonov unsure of the location of the puck Matthews slid the disc under Samsonov’s pads.

There is no statistic for composure. There is no statistic for assuring victory. There is no statistic, overall, for being the most complete player on the ice in every zone and every way of a playoff victory.

There is a statistic for this though: The Maple Leafs and the Bruins are tied 1-1 after two games at the TD Garden. This playoff series is now a best of five. The blasted Leafs from Game 1, battled back in Game 2, made some stunning mistakes and some shocking errors and still wound up standing tall enough for a 3-2 hold-your-breath win Monday night over a clearly exasperated Bruins team.

You expect Matthews to score, because that’s what he does better than anyone in hockey. His 70th goal of this season didn’t happen in the regular season. And he set up two other scores. Three goals for the Leafs, three points for the giant, Matthews.

On a night the Leafs were losing at faceoffs, he was winning his. He did what he usually does, win puck battles, block shots, rarely turned it over, rarely get beat in any situation, and think the way great hockey players are supposed to think when the game and the series and maybe the season are all on the line.

continued

Below watch TSN on Matthews and watch the game highlights here.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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