Auston Matthews is mired in his longest goal drought since his rookie season. Perhaps a current Leafs rookie can help him snap the slump.
“It’s fun playing with the captain,” said 20-year-old winger Easton Cowan. “He’s a good guy, too, so [I’m] just looking to support him all over the ice and make some plays … Hopefully I can help him break that drought tonight.”
Cowan earned a promotion to Toronto’s top line midway through Tuesday’s game in Montreal. He made a nice play to set up William Nylander for the Leafs’ only goal in a 3-1 loss to the Canadiens. Cowan will remain beside Matthews and Nylander to start Thursday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks.
Cowan and Matthews also got a look together early in the season.
“They’ve had some good stretches at times,” coach Craig Berube said. “[It’s] a good opportunity for Cowan. I thought he did a good job in Montreal, and that’s why I made that switch.”
Matthews has gone 12 straight NHL games without a goal. He hasn’t gone this long between goals with the Leafs since a 13-game dry spell in his first season in 2016-17. Why is he struggling to score?
“Yeah, that’s a good question,” Berube said. “I don’t really think I’m going to get into all that right now. You know, I think he’s had some tough luck, to be honest with you … It’s not every night, but he gets a lot of opportunities and whether it’s the post, the goalie makes a save, you know, there’s all sorts of things that probably play into it. Hopefully he can break out of it tonight.”
Matthews did score in two of six games at the Milan Olympics where he helped the United States win the gold medal.
“He feels it probably more than anyone as our captain, our leader and the type of player that he is,” said centre John Tavares. “It’s been a lot of hockey, it’s been a lot of emotions, a lot of things that he’s been through, but he continues, I think, being extremely dialed in on his preparation.”
Will Matthews ever return to being NHL’s best goal scorer? Auston Matthews has reached the 60-plus goal mark twice in his career, and has four other 40-plus goal seasons on his resume. However, with 26 this year, he’s trending towards his lowest goal output of his career. Will the Maple Leafs captain ever return to being the NHL’s best goal-scorer? TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joins Domino’s That’s Hockey to give his thoughts.
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What is Cowan’s mindset down the stretch?
“Just keep playing fast,” he said. “Keep making plays and keep playing [with] confidence.”
Cowan has hit the scoresheet in three of the last four games.
“I can’t speak highly enough about his approach every day, how much he loves the game and how he’s continuing to work on improving,” said Tavares. “There’s an extremely internal belief that he has and confidence that he has to him, not in an arrogant or cocky way, but just in wanting to prove that he belongs and the impact he can make.”
Cowan is learning with every game, but some of the lessons are harder than others. Brendan Gallagher hammered him with a big hit late in the first period on Tuesday, which led defenceman Jake McCabe to jump in and drop the gloves.
“I just got to be ready for the hit, honestly,” Cowan admitted. “I’m standing up too tall and just got to be ready for it. But, obviously, I said, ‘Thanks’ to Caber a lot there. That means a lot and shows the support we have.”
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If a similar situation arises on Thursday, Michael Pezzetta will be ready to step in. The gritty winger was recalled from the AHL and will make his Leafs debut against the Ducks.
“Super stoked,” Pezzetta said of his first game. “Just being from Toronto, growing up, like, wanting to put this jersey on for my whole life, still gotta pinch myself. I’m super excited. I could barely sleep last night. Yeah, it’s crazy.”
The 27-year-old grew up a Leafs fan with Mats Sundin being his favourite player.
“Came down to a few games,” Pezzetta said with a smile. “Usually sitting a little higher than I’ll be sitting tonight.”
Pezzetta signed a two-year deal with the Leafs in the summer, but has spent the entire season with the Marlies until now.
What does he plan to show on Thursday?
“Definitely a lot of energy, physicality, just life,” Pezzetta said. “That’s kind of been my role over the last four years when I was with Montreal. Just excited to do that and excited to prove to myself that I still belong here.”
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Ducks rookie Beckett Sennecke expects to have up to 45 friends and family in the crowd on Thursday as he plays his first NHL game at Scotiabank Arena.
“It’s awesome,” the 20-year-old winger said. “It’s something I’ve been looking for all year. I’m pretty excited.”
His parents are pumped, as well.
“They’ve been texting me about it for the last three, four months,” Sennecke said with a grin.
Sennecke estimates he attended between 100 to 150 games at Scotiabank Arena growing up.
“I came to a lot of Leafs games, especially in those playoff runs even the past couple years,” he said. “I loved the Leafs growing up. They were my go-to team and I looked up to a lot of the guys that I’m going to play against tonight.”
What will it be like to play Matthews?
“It’s going to be pretty cool. He’s definitely one of those guys I watched growing up and admired since I was pretty young.”
What did he learn from watching Matthews?
“How to score, I guess. You take little things from him. He scores in so many different ways, so if you pick up little things from him, you’re going to score more.”
Sennecke is also eager to renew his rivalry with Cowan. Cowan’s London Knights knocked out his Oshawa Generals in the OHL finals the past two years. Does he owe Cowan one?
“Yeah, I do,” Sennecke said with a grin. “I do.”
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Quebec native Bo Groulx made his Leafs debut on Tuesday night. It was his first NHL game since April 12, 2024.
“During the national anthem I was looking at the crowd and I was like, ‘Alright, we’re back. We’re back. Let’s go!’” the 26-year-old said. “It was really fun seeing the crowd out there.”
Groulx made a nice play around Canadiens defenceman Noah Dobson to create a scoring chance in the third period.
“I had a pass from Caber there in the neutral zone,” he recalled. “I had a lot of speed and I know when I have a lot of speed like that in the neutral zone I can create some plays early at the blue line. I saw Dobson was flat-footed a little bit, so I tried to make a move and I was glad it worked out. Dobes make a good save. I’m happy I made that move.”
Groulx has earned another game on Thursday night and it will be another special one as he faces his former team. The Ducks drafted Groulx in the second round in 2018. He played 65 games for the Ducks.
“Really good memories,” he said of his time with the team. “I was there for four years. I grew up in that organization. Spent two years in San Diego (AHL), a year and a half with the Ducks and most of the guys are there right now. It’s going to be fun.”
Groulx remains very close with goalie Lukas Dostal and centre Mason McTavish.
What will it be like to go up against McTavish?
“He’s a really strong guy, really smart player,” Groulx said. “I think I know a little bit of his moves, so I’ll try and get in his head a little bit.”
McTavish lights up when asked about Groulx.
“He’s playing tonight? Oh man, that’s unreal,” McTavish said. “I’m happy for him. He’s a great guy. I loved him. Loved him as a teammate. I’m happy he’s getting a chance here.”
Why did they hit it off?
“We were roommates my first year,” McTavish recalled. “We both made the team as younger guys and we kind of bonded over that.”
Dostal will get the start for the Ducks.
New Leaf Groulx looks to build momentum against former team Benoit-Olivier Groulx shares what he will remember about his first game with the Maple Leafs and building momentum against his former team.
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Defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is replacing Morgan Rielly as the quarterback on the top power-play unit for Thursday’s game.
“Just last game, I didn’t like how it was going,” Berube said of the change. “I’ve done it a few times this year, right? Sometimes, you know, a little switch like that will spark it again and get it going in the right direction. Right now, it’s a little dry for us, so that’s why I made the switch.”
During power-play reps on Thursday morning a shot by Matthews deflected off the pad of Joseph Woll and into the face of Matthew Knies, who immediately left the ice.
Berube said Knies will be ready to play on Thursday night.
The Leafs are 0/6 on the power play in the last three games.
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Lines at Leafs skate:
Cowan – Matthews – Nylander
Knies – Tavares – Domi
Maccelli – Groulx – Robertson
Pezzetta – Quillan – Jarnkrok
Joshua, Lorentz
Rielly – Carlo
McCabe – Ekman-Larsson
Benoit – Myers
Stecher
Woll starts
Stolarz