Reason for Auston Matthews' Early Season Scoring Slump for the Leafs Revealed
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman shares some very interesting insight on Auston Matthews' early season scoring slump with the Maple Leafs.
Through 3 games thus far, Auston Matthews has been held off of the score sheet entirely, which is quite uncharacteristic of the 3-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner. However, with the Leafs having played well enough to have won all 3 games if it weren't for Sam Montembeault stealing the season opener for the Canadiens, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of concern.
During his most recent edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Elliotte Friedman revealed something very interesting about Auston Matthews amid is early-season scoring slump. Not only is Matthews entirely unbothered by the lack of early production, Friedman noted that Matthews has an increased focus on playing the right way since taking over as captain of the team.
He might dispute that. I'm not sure he would like that, because he takes great pride in how well-rounded he wanted to be in the first place, but a couple of guys did say to me -- he doesn't give away a lot, but he almost looks completely unbothered by the fact that he's not producing while they're winning.
He's trying to be even more detailed than he was... I just thought that was an interesting take on him so far."
Matthews was already one of the league's better two-way forwards, playing very sound defensively and earning some Selke Trophy consideration for his efforts. To hear that he's even more focused on the defensive aspects of his game now that he's the captain, it may really help him to become a better defensive conscience for his teammates as he continues to lead by example.
For one of the best pure goal scorers on the planet -- arguably THE best -- I don't think anyone should be too concerned about the pucks crossing the goal line. That's going to happen. The focus is and always should have been on winning, and with Matthews being so committed to playing the right way, it could very well lead to a lot more playoff success than we're used to seeing in Toronto, especially with the improved blueline and crease.
There's no reason to panic, and Matthews know this. The Leafs know this. You don't get to 69 goals in a season if there are offensive holes or shooting inefficiencies in your game. The goals will come. But for now, Matthews seems content with putting a strong emphasis on playing the right way, and if he continuesnto do this, his teammates will follow, and the team will be better as a whole for it.
