Michael Bunting and Barry Trotz comment on Auston Matthews' goal scoring 'drought'.
Matthews in a bit of a lull.
When you score as many goals as Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews has, you sort of set the expectation that you will always be scoring goals each and every time you hit the ice. That's why when a player like Matthews goes 3 games without a goal, a very minor goal scoring drought by anyone's standards, people tend to notice.
Matthews has scored 58 goals this season but his quest to reach 60 has come to a grinding halt over the course of the last 3 games. This in spite of the fact that the Leafs as a unit scored 14 times during those 3 games which included a loss to the Buffalo Sabres and a pair of wins over the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals.
On Sunday, Matthews' Maple Leafs teammate Michael Bunting was asked about the goal scoring drought of his team's top star and he brushed it off like it was no big deal. According to Bunting, there's no one less worried about a personal milestone of that nature than Auston Matthews.
"He's the least selfish human I've ever met in my life," said Bunting as per TSN when asked if he felt Matthews was pressing for 60.
Interestingly enough the Maple Leafs come into Sunday set to face off against a team in the New York Islanders that has managed to keep Matthews off of the scoresheet in their 2 previous encounters this season. Islanders head coach Barry Trotz was asked what it would take for the Islanders to repeat that feat a third time this season, and he joked that they would probably need a little help from the hockey gods.
"Stomach flu, probably," joked Barry Trotz. "He's dangerous all the time."
Trotz is correct in his assessment of the Leafs star forward. Even in spite of the fact that he has failed to register a goal over the last 3 games Matthews has continued to contribute offensively. Over that once again very short goalless drought he was still a point per game player with 3 assists to his name over the course of those 3 games.
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