Auston Matthews not getting the respect he deserves compared to Matthew Tkachuk in the playoffs
While the Florida Panthers' run to the Stanley Cup Finals has been nothing short of a Cinderella story, props and recognition need to be laid upon their star players for showing up when the lights were the brightest. They got helped by the most unlikely of teams to get them into the playoffs, as both Chicago and Columbus held wins over Pittsburgh to close out the season and punch Florida's ticket to the postseason by one single point. The Panthers overcame a 3-1 deficit against the best team in NHL regular season history - statistically - and have not looked back since.
Since falling 3-1 to Boston, the Panthers have won 11 of their last 12 games with their only loss over that stretch coming Game 4 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round. They survived by the skin of their teeth in large part because of Sergei Bobrovsky, but in the third round against the Carolina Hurricanes, Matthew Tkachuk came through with a string of outstanding performances.
He scored 4 goals in the series including the quadruple overtime winner in Game 1, the overtime winner in Game 2, had the primary assist on the lone goal in Game 3, and scored 2 goals in Game 4, including the game winner with 5 seconds left in regulation. He has 9 goals and 21 points in 16 games this post-season, is a plus-10, has 4 game-winning goals, and has a shooting percentage of 18.8%. He even ended the regular season on a hot run with 12 goals and 30 points in his final 19 games to cap off a 40-goal and 109-point campaign.
Every spring a new player emerges through the fog and becomes the poster boy for their team or even just how to play "playoff hockey" and Tkachuk is that and then some this year. Even if he's not scoring, he's finishing checks, forechecking hard, playing good defense, and finding ways to help his team win. The same has not been said about the Toronto Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews has received a lot of heat for that.
He's the bonafide superstar of this Leafs team, he is the reigning MVP after a 60-goal season in 2021-22, and if he turns on the charm then the Leafs go as far as he's willing to take them. However when you look at their comparative stats, it's nearly identical - the only difference being team success.
Jeff Veillette, writer for Canada Sport Betting, points out that Auston Matthews has 9 goals and 21 points with 67 shots on goal, 60 hits, and 20 blocks in his last 16 games before Game 3 of the Florida/Toronto series. Whereas Tkachuk has the same 9 goals and 21 points but with 48 shots, 52 hits, and 7 blocked shots in 16 games this spring. While we laud one, we bash the other.
Now the difference truly lies in the impact from each player because Tkachuk is a motor that never stops running, while Matthews is more elegant and relies on his goal scoring and stellar two-way play to make a difference. For whatever reason, Toronto has found a way to lose in the playoffs and they've become their own worst enemy.
Matthews was quietly sensational during the first round of the playoffs when he scored 5 goals in the final 4 games, while recording a point in all 6. He finished the series with 5 goals and 9 points. He disappeared in the final 3 games against Florida and that's what will forever hurt his reputation.
The core members were completely neutralized, their depth could only do so much, and Sergei Bobrovsky was a brick wall. However, you get paid the big bucks for a reason. You're labelled an elite superstar in this league for a reason, and that is why the expectations placed upon you are justified.
You have to believe that at some point in time the Maple Leafs will figure out their playoff bugaboo because they have too much talent that is being wasted. Until then, they have to watch the Florida Panthers compete for the Stanley Cup with a few players who were described as fringe-superstars before the season started.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 2 | 163 ANSWERS Auston Matthews not getting the respect he deserves compared to Matthew Tkachuk in the playoffs If you could build a franchise around only one of these two players, who would it be? | ||
| Auston Matthews | 81 | 49.7 % |
| Matthew Tkachuk | 82 | 50.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
