Three nights later, in a Leafs win versus the Boston Bruins in the home opener at the Air Canada Centre, Matthews and linemates William Nylander and Zach Hyman didnt generate a bushel of scoring chances.
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That’s a unusual thing for a team to advertise to open an National Hockey League season, but so it was on Wednesday night, with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment going high concept in their latest bid to engage a long-tormented fan base. “They’ve done a good job of drafting lately, and they certainly chose to develop those players and give them some opportunities”, said Julien, who will also be contending with Toronto first rounder Mitch Marner up front along with Matthews.
“We were actually sitting and waiting for dinner last night and following along on Twitter on the National Hockey League app”, Flyers goalie Steve Mason said after Thursday’s practice, preparing for Friday’s opener in Los Angeles.
While 17 players joined Barilko (5) and Bailey (6) with retired numbers, six of those numbers were shared.
Senators center Kyle Turris scored his second of the night on a slap shot from the high slot at 37 seconds of overtime to give the Senators a 5-4 victory over Matthews’ Maple Leafs.
The first-team Boston power-play started the night with Torey Krug and David Krejci at the points, and with Ryan Spooner and Austin Czarnik flanking David Backes down low.
On top of making history with his four goals, Matthews’ third goal put him among select company.
“When I played my first game I was more anxious about surviving and staying in the NHL”, said the league’s all-time leading scorer.
The others who were able to pot three goals in their debuts include Real Cloutier, Fabian Brunnstrom, Derek Stepan and Alex Smart. His tenacity is something the Leafs have been missing dearly, and you could see that right from his first shift, winning the puck back in the offensive zone multiple times. For now, Mitch Marner and the high-flying approach the Maple Leafs had at their home opener will have many salivating at what could come in the future. Likely. But he’s well on his way to grabbing the hearts of Leafs Nation. The goal for Marner, the fourth overall pick of the 2015 draft, was the first of the 19-year-old’s career and sixth straight goal scored by a rookie for Toronto to start the season following Auston Matthews’ four-goal debut Wednesday night.
Dave Keon is the greatest Toronto Maple Leaf of all time, according to a list compiled for the team’s centennial season. By scoring his first career goal in his first career game, however, Matthews set another mark.
Things didn’t get better for the Bruins in the final frame. He had an excellent stretch pass to Tyler Bozak, who got the puck up to Marner.
The 100th anniversary ceremonies preceded the game Saturday. Boy, it’s fun to imagine.
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That’s the way the first period ended, with the score tied 2-2, but it didn’t take Matthews long after the intermission to get going again. “I think I’m like five years older than him”.
