NHL: Buffalo Sabres at Toronto Maple Leafs - Source: Imagn — Auston Matthews said about Mitch Marner's performance - Source: Imagn

Auston Matthews makes his feelings known about Mitch Marner's performance during his 12-game absence

Modified Dec 05, 2024 04:41 GMT

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews had high praise for his teammate Mitch Marner after the Leafs beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Matthews was impressed with how Marner and the rest of the team performed during his 12-game absence due to upper body injury.

"That's a sign of a really great team - when you got guys that step up when other guys are out," Matthews said.

"Mitchy drives so much play for us, does so much for us on both sides of the puck. When you see that, it's really encouraging. It sucks not to be out there but, just the faith you have in the guys that go out there and compete every night. We've got a great team so we wanna keep it going."

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Matthews and Marner were reunited on a line in the third period against Nashville, which is when the Leafs scored all three of their goals. Matthews netted two goals while Marner tallied three assists.

"It's easy. He's obviously an incredible player and really easy to play with. We've logged a lot of minutes together, so we always have that familiarity and chemistry," Matthews said.

Auston Matthews mentioned that it was nice to connect right away and maintain that connection throughout the period. He thought that they had many good shifts and opportunities, which contributed to the team's big win.

William Nylander also scored for Toronto, while Mark Jankowski and Jonathan Marchessault had goals for Nashville. Joseph Woll made 22 saves, while Juuse Saros stopped 25 shots in the loss.

NHL analyst Craig Button on Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner playing on the same line

NHL analyst Craig Button discussed Leafs HC Craig Berube’s decision to put Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner playing on the same line in the third period. Button was enthusiastic about the duo:

"When you have the option to play this two guys together, you get magic, it's M&M magic."

On TSN's SportsCentre, Button noted that both Matthews and Marner had good scoring chances early in Toronto's game against the Preadtors. He suggested that the coach may have decided that it was the right time to put his two star forwards together in hopes of sparking the team's offense.

Button went on to praise Auston Matthews in particular, commenting on his improved play since returning from offseason wrist surgery:

"I don't know what Auston did in Germany, but he has come back a rejuvenated and reinvigorated player and he is starting to heat up...That is not good news for the rest of the league."

Putting Matthews and Marner on the same line gives Toronto a dangerous one-two punch, and Button believes that it could pay major dividends for the Leafs' attack.