The Maple Leafs left Nashville with two points after a 5-4 overtime win, but Jim Hiller spent much of his postgame session talking about something bigger than the result: Auston Matthews looking like himself again.
Hiller said Matthews’ four-point night stood out from the opening shift to the finish, and he didn’t hold back when asked whether it resembled the Matthews of old.
“It really was for me… I really felt something special from Auston… It was just a little bit different”
Hiller said Matthews’ game had been strong throughout camp, but Tuesday’s performance felt like a step beyond that. He pointed to the way Matthews was winning pucks, battling in his own end and driving play all over the ice.
“It was everywhere. I think it was his will to win.
That was probably the biggest one. He won battles in the D-zone.
He played well all over the ice. But I thought his will to win tonight was pretty strong.”
The Leafs also got a major moment from Gavin McKenna, who scored his first NHL goal. Hiller called it a pure shooter’s finish, even while noting McKenna is better known for his playmaking.
“It was great. That goal was a goal scorer’s goal.
We know he’s a playmaker. By trade, he’s a playmaker, but that was a goal scorer’s goal.
Got his feet around it on the strong side, and he had some zip on it.”
Hiller said the bench was happy for McKenna, but he stressed the timing of the goal mattered even more than the milestone itself.
“The guys were excited for him, but I think more importantly, it was a big goal in the hockey game. That’s the one you remember.
It was really important. It wasn’t the first goal of the game.
It was an important moment, and he came up big in an important moment. I like that.”
The Leafs’ offense showed more life overall, something Hiller said has been missing at times.
“There were some nice goals. There’s no question.
Willy’s that came back - you’d call that a goal scorer’s goal, too. We had some good looks offensively.
It’s well documented we haven’t been scoring a lot. But tonight, you saw it should only be a matter of time when you have guys who can shoot the puck like that.”
One of the night’s biggest tactical moves was Hiller’s decision to shuffle the lines and reunite Matthews with William Nylander. Hiller said the idea had been discussed well before puck drop.
“You guys had been asking. We’d been thinking about it.
We’d had many conversations, so it wasn’t necessarily something that was a spur-of-the-moment thing. We kind of knew that if we did something, it might look something like what you saw.”
He said the pairing wasn’t about loading up one line at the expense of the rest of the group, but the timing felt right against Nashville.
“For me, the time has to be right. It’s hard sometimes.
You don’t want to overweight one line. They’re really strong players, and you like to have a little bit of balance.
But there are going to be moments in time. I thought they both were strong tonight at the same time, so I thought they could complement each other well.”
The overtime sequence gave Hiller one more thing to react to, after a 3-on-0 chance ended without a goal.
“Oh, geez. I don’t know.
I think 34 should’ve just taken that one straight down. We’ll call it a one-on-one.
That’s what I would’ve liked. But anyway, they made a pretty good save on it.
I’ll say that. We did get a good look.”
And while the win itself mattered, Hiller made clear that Matthews’ night was the real story. Not just the overtime winner, but the full package.
“It really was for me. I thought he’s been really good the whole camp.
You guys have been at practice. He’s working on every puck.
But tonight, again, for me, it was just a little bit different. From just a pure hockey perspective, to appreciate his game tonight, it was really a special night for him.
Never mind that he scored the overtime winner. I’m not talking about that.
Just his game, start to finish.”
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