Is the myth that Auston Matthews does not show up in the playoffs finally over?

[danpantz]

Maple Leafs fans - Look at how deep our forward group is and our elite young core.

Also Maple Leafs fans - Matthews has no help, what do you expect

 

[Varan]

to be fair, bergeron is a nightmare matchup for anyone, he puts you on complete lock down

 

[Ryan Michaels]

How are we debating this? Matthews did everything he could. Last year the Conn Smythe was won by possibly the greatest goal scorer of all time, he hit 5 goals in one of the 4 series he played. If he scores tonight Ovie will have hit 5 again but if he doesn't he will have hit 5 goals in 1 out of his last 16 playoff series. That's right Ovie currently hit 5 goals in 1 out of his last 15 playoff rounds. That dates back to 2010, Ovie has scored as well as Matthews did in a playoff series once in this decade.

Its pretty ****ing hard to put up huge numbers in the playoffs. Would we have loved him to put up a 2009 Malkin takeover type performance? Sure but he was pretty damn good. Based on the level Matthews is being held to in this thread I hope you guys have long long lists of playoff chokers. May as well lock this thread up, asked and answered.

 

[Ryan Michaels]

Maple Leafs fans - Look at how deep our forward group is and our elite young core.

Also Maple Leafs fans - Matthews has no help, what do you expect

Any Leaf fan who claimed Kapanen and Johnsson were part of our "elite young core" was off their meds and that's who Matthews gets. That is a huge oversimplification but I'm sure you know that.

If you want to talk about underachievers for the Leafs talk about Marner/JT/Nylander, the first two won't get nearly the blame Matthews did last year because they're "good Canadian boys."

 

[Rabid Ranger]

It's funny the standards Matthews is being held to considering how so many attempt to downplay his place among the game's greats.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Any Leaf fan who claimed Kapanen and Johnsson were part of our "elite young core" was off their meds and that's who Matthews gets. That is a huge oversimplification but I'm sure you know that.

If you want to talk about underachievers for the Leafs talk about Marner/JT/Nylander, the first two won't get nearly the blame Matthews did last year because they're "good Canadian boys."

Nylander did get a lot of criticism during the series ever since his only goal in Game 1, during the one intermissions in Game 4 from the HNIC panel.

 

[Ryan Michaels]

Nylander did get a lot of criticism during the series ever since his only goal in Game 1, during the one intermissions in Game 4 from the HNIC panel.

Oh yeah, I know, I'm just pointing out how silly it is to still be having this Matthews debate. He has the potential to be even better but he was also pretty much our best player, there's a long list to look to before we even contemplate if he had more to give.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Oh yeah, I know, I'm just pointing out how silly it is to still be having this Matthews debate. He has the potential to be even better but he was also pretty much our best player, there's a long list to look to before we even contemplate if he had more to give.

Fair or not maybe Tavares and Marner are not getting the same criticism we saw last year with Matthews since in the regular season Tavares got 47 goals and Marner got 94 points.

 

[JT Kreider]

It's funny the standards Matthews is being held to considering how so many attempt to downplay his place among the game's greats.

It doesnt help that his own coach downplays his place among the league's greats with his puzzling usage and disappointing TOI