Matthews Gets 10th Goal As Maple Leafs Cap Washington

Published on 14-Oct-2018 by J Square Humboldt

NHL    NHL Daily Update

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Matthews Gets 10th Goal As Maple Leafs Cap Washington

It's one thing to start the NHL season on a roll.

It's quite another to be on fire.

Arizona born-&-bred Auston Matthews is forcing himself into rather selective company as he's done his bit and more to get the Toronto Maple Leafs off to a 5-1 start with a scorching performance.

 

Those were dude's first seven goals of the campaign.

He's now racked up 10 goals in those first six games, with the latest coming in a 4-2 comeback-&-vapor-trail final period of TO's 4-2 conquest in Washington:

 

That tap-in was Matthews' easiest of the lot. The impressive part of it is how someone that lethal get that open?

Suffice to say he's gonna get a few of those because, as we've just seen, he's netting them from everywhere.

 

One strategy against Matthews and his Leafly buds showed up in this game that looks like it could gain some traction.

The Caps added extra spice to their physical game whenever the opportunity even half-presented itself -- even without Tom Wilson around -- something they've never minded doing, as Dmitry Orlov demonstrates:

 

Toronto did dominate the third period in this one, but their apparent philosophy of you can't hit what you can't catch is gonna have to be addressed. The Caps, for example, are a highly skilled club, too, and they can catch them.

It's also clear after this game that the Leafs miss William Nylander, who's still holding out for a long-term contract.

Kasperi Kapanen is a solid second-line winger, but the young Swede showed last season that his style of play will raise Matthews' game even higher.

 

It's impossible to be the Maple Leafs these days, so rockin' crews like Pittsburgh, Boston, and Philadelphia will have taken notes on this game. If Toronto's brain trust wasn't looking for power -- and help on the blue line wouldn't go amiss, either -- they are now.

The odds say Matthews is gonna continue to light it up, as will John Tavares, but if they're gonna get as deep as they think they will in the spring, TO needs to give him more support.