Auston Matthews leading by example through 2 periods of play; here's a look at his night so far

The Leafs have taken a 3-2 lead into the second intermission in enemy territory in Tampa thanks to a trio of unanswered goals by Auston Matthews and a pair by John Tavares (though one may end up being credited to Jason Spezza).

They say that you can't win in the playoffs unless your top players play like your top players. Well, throughout this series, we have seen all of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, Morgan Rielly and Jack Campbell have all made clutch plays when the chips were down.

As the Leafs prep to carry on with the third period and try to preserve or extend their lead, we should acknowledge the night that Auston Matthews is having. You want to talk about leading by example, look no further than #34.

The Leafs need to lock it down for 20 more minutes to do something that the franchise hasn't been able to do in almost two decades - close out a series and move on to the second round.

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