Apr 13, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) goes out to the warmups before the game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images
It's been two games of the Battle of Ontario, and Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews is yet to find the back of the net. It's not, however, from a lack of trying.
To go with his three assists in the series against the Senators, Matthews has nine shots on net, a team lead. The 27-year-old's line, with Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner, has played the most at five-on-five (25:58) among any forward lines in the series, on Ottawa or Toronto.
The trio leads the Maple Leafs with a 51.69 expected goals-for percentage at five-on-five in the series.
Throughout the regular season, though, Matthews hasn't scored at the rate he's used to. His goals-per-game rate this season was 0.49, down significantly from his 0.85 rate last season.
During the regular season, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube preached that Matthews' game overall had been strong and that goals, while they matter, weren't the main focus as the team looks to rewrite the wrongs in the playoffs.
Not only has his defensive game been strong, but he's also been a blocking machine in the playoffs. His six shot blocks lead all players in the Battle of Ontario through two games.
"I think at this time of year, it takes the group, it takes everybody out there. No matter what your role is, you gotta sacrifice and do all the little things," Matthews said, ahead of Game 3 on Thursday morning.
"Obviously, you want to produce, you want to do all of that stuff, but like I said, puck battles, faceoffs, blocking shots, making plays at the right time, taking care of pucks in the right areas, those are all the little things that accumulate over the time, over games, over series, and those are the details you need to win."
It's also worth noting that the Matthews line is getting the toughest matchup of the series in Tim Stutzle's line. Toronto's captain faced Stutzle for almost nine minutes at five-on-five in Game 2 and was outchanced 5-1.
High-danger chances were 2-1, also in favor of Stutzle.
"I mean, there's obviously things like everybody else that you're looking at that they can do better. They have tough matchups with the Stutzle line. It's a good line. I think they're doing a good job defensively and checking and doing a lot of good things. You just got to keep going," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said.
One area where Berube thinks Matthews' line can be better is around the net.
"Goals will go in, but if you want to score goals in the playoffs, it's about getting to the net more than anything. You're going to get opportunities for sure at times on broken plays and things like that, but get to the net," he said.
"That's where the goals go in most of the time in the playoffs, the greasy goals around the net. But overall, I'm pleased with that line, the job they're doing. I'm not too worried about Matthews."
Matthews, Marner, and Knies have combined for eight points through the first two games. Although it's a team game, a big part of Toronto's success hinges on the play of those three players.
As many Maple Leafs have said, though, the series against Ottawa is only going to get tougher. It's up to Toronto to increase its strong play as the Battle of Ontario continues.
