Mitch Marner makes an intriguing comment about helping Auston Matthews tie an NHL record
When the Toronto Maple Leafs set foot on the ice in Madison Square Garden in New York City on Wednesday, superstar center Auston Matthews will have the opportunity to slide into the NHL record book, alongside two NHL legends in Steve Yzerman and Pavel Bure.
Matthews has scored in his last 10 consecutive road games for the Leafs this season, which has cemented his name in the team's franchise record books, but if he can pot his 26th goal against the Rangers on Wednesday, he'll have his 11th, to tie Yzerman (1988-89) and Pavel Bure (1993-94).
Mitch Marner has been Matthews' primary playmaker over much of the last few seasons, and with his vision and hockey IQ, Matthews does stand a pretty good chance of tying the record on Wednesday - that is, if Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin will allow it.
Marner spoke following the Leafs' optional skate on Wednesday morning, touching on the fact that the plan is to look for Matthews, but the Leafs are not going to sacrifice sound two-way play for a chance at tying an NHL record.
«Hopefully it does happen, we can try to make it happen,» Marner said. «We've just got to make sure we're not forcing anything and doing the right things.»
It sounds like head coach Sheldon Keefe is starting to rub off on the players, with his mantra of playing the right way and building Stanley Cup habits. Marner has really appeared to buy in, as has Matthews. One interesting thing about these two players is that they likely can create some grade A opportunities while not sacrificing playing a quality two-way game.
«It's not like he is out there playing selfishly, looking just strictly for goals,» Marner said of Matthews. «He's doing it the right way. A couple of those goals have been kind of dirty, around the net, just hard-working goals and a couple of them have been pure talent, just beating the goalie cleanly. He's playing our team game. He's doing it right.»
Shout out to the Toronto Sun's Terry Koshan, who had the scoop!
