Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.
BOSTON — Auston Matthews has been characterized as just a regular-season star — one criticized for flaming out right when the Toronto Maple Leafs hit the playoffs.
Consider Matthews to have issued a rebuttal.
The scene: Late in Game 2 of Toronto’s first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Boston Bruins on Monday. The Leafs were trying to avoid falling into a 2-0 series deficit, with the scoreboard knotted at 2-2 late in the third period. The rowdy hometown crowd at TD Garden were taunting the visitors with electrified chants of “U-S-A … U-S-A” when Matthews — arguably the greatest American-born hockey player in the league today who happens to play for an iconic Canadian franchise — saw his opening.
Like a running back sprinting for daylight in the open field, Matthews charged into the Bruins’ zone, gloved down a pass from linemate Max Domi, juked defenseman Charlie McAvoy and bamboozled Boston goaltender Linus Ullmark with a perfectly placed top-shelf strike.
In a blink, Matthews’ eventual game-winner took Toronto from the emotional brink to a soft landing en route to a 3-2 victory. The Leafs left Boston with home-ice advantage in a best-of-five series against the opponent with whom they hadn’t even held a lead in their previous five meetings.
Matthews was the opposite of invisible. He was impossible to ignore. Now, more than ever, is Matthews’ time to shine.
“You look at his goal [on Monday] — that was a nothing play,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said. “And he got a game-winning goal off of it. Even when you think you’re tight on him, you’re not tight enough. But that’s the thing about the best players; they find a way. And that’s what he did.”
IT’S BEEN A JOURNEY for Matthews finding his way to blossom in the postseason. Prior to Monday, he’d recorded 22 goals and 44 points in 51 playoff tilts, but hadn’t registered a goal in his previous six postseason appearances. And that is from a player who’s won three Rocket Richard Trophies as the league’s top goal-scorer, including a career-best 69-goal campaign in 2023-24.
Make no mistake — the numbers aren’t bad. But for whatever reason, Matthews hasn’t translated consistently to being the same difference-making threat in the playoffs that he’s been in the regular season.
Perhaps that ends now, with Matthews apparently letting go of the pressure and allowing his skill to take over.
“It’s just happening so fast, you don’t really have time to think,” Matthews said of teeing up his game-winner. “It’s honestly kind of instincts, and just trying to make the right play.”
It wasn’t just that momentum separating Matthews from the pack. He assisted on both Leaf goals earlier in the night (courtesy of Domi and John Tavares on the power play), had a game-high eight shots on goal, six hits, and at one point made a potential game-saving move in the crease behind goaltender Ilya Samsonov to keep a puck out of the Leafs’ cage.
Matthews is not above the fray. He’ll do the so-called dirty work. And that commitment at both ends of the spectrum — offensively and defensively — is what emerged most in Game 2, and caught Boston’s full attention.
“What I’ve been impressed with him about is how tenacious he’s been on pucks, how tenacious he’s been on the forecheck,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “He’s been relentless with his work ethic. We can’t let him get in behind us. That’s the most dangerous man on the ice; you have to be tighter [with him]. But he’s the most dangerous man on the ice because he’s earned it.”
Matthews has done it the hard way, bearing the brunt of expectations. It’s been the same narrative since Matthews arrived in Toronto as their No. 1 overall pick in 2016; the Leafs will go as far in the playoffs as Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Tavares take them. The Leafs’ hopes live and die with their “Core Four.”
Matthews shoulders that burden more than ever. Toronto hasn’t seen Nylander — a 40-goal scorer in his own right — in this series yet due to an undisclosed injury (he remains a possibility to return in Game 3). Marner has been dead-quiet, with zero points and four total shots on goal. Tavares is doing his part, but the Leafs’ captain is past his scoring prime.
Matthews, meanwhile, is in the thick of his. He’s the red-hot middle of Toronto’s nucleus, the Leafs’ highly prized, series-defining skater. And that’s for better or for worse.
“He’s world-class in everything he does,” Tavares said of Matthews. “Having the night like he did [in Game 2] was massive for our group. The goal is one thing; it’s obviously special. Not many guys in the world [have] those instincts and the hands and finishing ability. But the competitive aspect, winning battles, fighting for space, using his body — things he does so truly well that sets the standard for us. It was a hell of a game by him and just driving our team.”
THE TRICK NOW is Matthews sustaining the momentum he’s created and turning it into something tangible. The Leafs infamously went two decades without a first-round playoff series win until besting the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games last year. Matthews had five goals in the final four games to get Toronto over the line — and then managed only two assists through five games in a second-round flop against the Florida Panthers.
It’s not enough for Matthews to just light the lamp. His impact must be felt in every phase of the game. Monday’s performance exemplified who Matthews can be at his most powerful. He didn’t make it look easy, exactly. And the Bruins are a smart, opportunistic team that have already shown Toronto they’ll throw every mistake the Leafs make into the back of their net.
Matthews found a way to break through with a goal-scoring finish and an exuberant reaction from a usually subdued Matthews. It could be bigger than a single win. It could be a sign that the best of Playoff Matthews has arrived — and is still to come.
“Auston was all over the stat sheet and in so many regards he’s affecting the game positively for us,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “But for me, the way he worked, where he competed, he was hard, physical, winning puck battles all over the ice. Really good … it’s big-time stuff the way those guys connected in the finish.”
TOKYO — Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts will not play in the two-game Tokyo Series against the Chicago Cubs because of an illness that has lingered for the past week.
Manager Dave Roberts said Monday that Betts is starting to feel better but has lost nearly 15 pounds and is still trying to get rehydrated and gain strength. Roberts added that the eight-time All-Star might fly back to the United States before the team in an effort to rest and prepare for the domestic opener on March 27.
The Cubs and Dodgers open the Major League Baseball season on Tuesday at the Tokyo Dome. A second game is on Wednesday.
“He’s not going to play in these two games,” Roberts said. “When you’re dehydrated, that’s what opens a person up to soft tissue injuries. We’re very mindful of that.”
Roberts said Miguel Rojas will start at shortstop in Betts’ place for the two games at the Tokyo Dome.
Betts started suffering from flu-like symptoms at the team’s spring training home in Arizona the day before the team left for Japan. He still made the long plane trip but hasn’t recovered as quickly as hoped.
Roberts said if the team had known the illness would linger this long, Betts wouldn’t have traveled. Betts tried to go through a workout on Sunday but became tired quickly.
Betts is making the full-time transition to shortstop this season after playing most of his career in right field and second base. The 2018 AL MVP hit .289 with 19 homers and 75 RBIs last season, helping the Dodgers win the World Series.
LAS VEGAS — Josh Berry raced to the first Cup Series victory of his career, taking NASCAR’s oldest team to victory lane Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Berry, in his first season driving the famed No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing, had the first victory for a Ford team through five races this season. William Byron opened the year with a Daytona 500 victory in a Chevrolet and Christopher Bell in a Toyota won the next three races.
Berry, meanwhile, had to run down Daniel Suarez following a restart with 19 laps remaining to take control. Although Harrison Burton won at Daytona last summer for the Wood Brothers, Berry’s victory is the first not at a superspeedway since Ryan Blaney won for the team in 2017 at Pocono.
It was the 101st victory for the organization spanning 20 drivers.
Suarez in a Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing finished second, followed by Ryan Preece in a Ford for RFK Racing. Byron was fourth for Hendrick Motorsports, followed by Ross Chastain of Trackhouse, Austin Cindric of Team Penske and Alex Bowman of Hendrick.
Joey Logano had late control of the race until Las Vegas native Noah Gragson hit the wall with 25 laps remaining to bring out the ninth caution of the race. Berry was in second when the caution came out and second behind Suarez on the restart.
Berry won in his 53rd Cup race and just his fifth race with the Wood Brothers, the team that signed him when Stewart-Haas Racing shuttered at the end of last season.
The 34-year-old Tennessee driver was a 40-1 underdog to win Sunday’s race and his win put the Wood Brothers back into the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
Bell to the back
Bell came to Las Vegas on a three-race winning streak with an opportunity to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four consecutive Cup races.
But his chance to extend his streak was stymied when Joe Gibbs Racing had to change the throttle body on the No. 20 Toyota after Bell qualified 13th and the penalty dropped him to the back of the field for the start of the race.
He never recovered in what was an overall subpar day for the four-driver JGR contingent.
Bell, who complained about the handling of his car most of the race, finished a team-high 12th. Only eight drivers have won four straight Cup races in the modern era of NASCAR that began in 1972.
Chase Briscoe was 17th and Ty Gibbs, who rolled a sprint car Saturday night at the dirt track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finished 22nd. Denny Hamlin, winner of more than $200,000 over two nights of playing slots in the Las Vegas casino, couldn’t convert his luck to the track and finished 25th.
Up Next
The Cup Series races next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a track that had been in the playoff rotation the last three years but has now been moved to a spring race. Tyler Reddick won last October and Bell won in 2023.
LAS VEGAS — Christopher Bell will have to start from the back of the field in his attempt to win a fourth consecutive Cup Series race after NASCAR penalized the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on Sunday for making changes to his Toyota.
Bell had been set to start 13th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he is trying to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four consecutive Cup races. But JGR changed the throttle body on the No. 20 Toyota after qualifying, resulting in Bell forfeiting his starting spot.
Bell came to Las Vegas coming off victories at Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas in Texas and Phoenix. Only eight drivers have won four straight Cup races in the modern era of NASCAR that began in 1972. Among those who have accomplished the feat, seven are in NASCAR’s Hall of Fame and six are Cup Series champions.
Bell’s three straight wins are the Cup Series’ longest streak since Kyle Larson won three in a row twice in 2021, and Bell is the first to do it in NASCAR’s Next Gen car, which was introduced in 2022.
His three wins this year tie his career-high victory tallies set in 2022 and matched in 2024. At Las Vegas, Bell has five career top-10 finishes in 10 starts and three poles. He was the runner-up in Vegas’ past two fall races.