Maple Leafs report cards: Auston Matthews’ 3 assists lifts Toronto past Jets

WINNIPEG, CANADA - OCTOBER 22: Auston Matthews #34, John Tavares #91, Rasmus Sandin #38, Mitchell Marner #16 and William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate a second period goal against the Winnipeg Jets at the Canada Life Centre on October 22, 2022 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images)
By Omar White
Oct 23, 2022

We should all remember the last time the Leafs took on the Jets in Winnipeg. Tempers flared, fists flew, Jason Spezza wound up getting suspended and the infamous, “Hey boys, is there anything better than beating the Leafs,” line from Mark Scheifele became gold-platted billboard material among fans. Despite evening things up three months later in a 7-3 victory, the bad blood between the two teams didn’t go away.

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That didn’t stop the Leafs from starting their road trip with a 4-1 victory over the Jets. Sure, the heat between the two squads was there, especially in the second period, but the Leafs played a respectable game through and through. Special teams were sound, five-on-five play wasn’t too leaky and the goaltending was solid enough to give the Leafs a chance to win.

No theatrics or dramatics on a Saturday night? Sounds like a great way to start a road trip.

First Star 

Auston Matthews

The player most known for goals changed his specialty to a playmaker, finishing the night with three assists. Call it timing, rust, or a Rocket-Hart hangover, Matthews hasn’t looked 100 percent himself yet. It could also be the sting from that Jamie Benn cross-check last game still playing a factor. When you have Auston Matthews fanning on a wide-open one-timer, you have to start asking questions.

However, Matthews found ways to contribute despite not putting the puck in himself. It started with a well-earned secondary assist to respond to the bad pass from Morgan Rielly on the power play leading to John Tavares’ first goal of the night.

He later helped Tavares out again, getting the primary on his deflection goal while adding his third helper of the night on Bunting’s goal. As the game went on, Matthews was taking more lanes toward the net and moving in and out of the slot for opportunities. That is going to be the difference-maker. If you’ve been frustrated with the lack of goals coming from No. 34, don’t worry. It won’t last long.

Second Star 

John Tavares 

The front of the net was Tavares’ kingdom tonight. It’s games like this that remind us how elite Tavares can be in tight. The patience on the first goal alone — making Connor Hellebuyck go down early, leaving the top of the net free for the captain to capitalize on — was a huge difference-maker.

His skill on deflections always makes him a great net-front option and the captain kept the much-needed success of the top unit going after the whole team went 1/8 the game before.

Third Star 

Ilya Samsonov

Samsonov remains undefeated in a Leafs sweater. Tonight marks his fourth win in four games, stopping 30 of 31 for a .968 save percentage. Save for some long extensions from the crease and a blunder behind the net, Samsonov’s positioning was on point and the pucks were hitting him whether he was expecting the shot or not. His save on Nate Schmidt stands out for me as the seas completely parted after William Nylander and Justin Holl ran into each other.

Those are the saves you need as it was a 1-1 hockey game at the time. The Leafs needed average goaltending this season and with Samsonov, they got another night of efficiency.

Player reports

A

Morgan Rielly 

The response to the hit on Nick Robertson is something a lot of us have wanted. There have been too many games with star players getting crunched along the boards so seeing Rielly go after Josh Morrissey and stick up for his teammate was a feel-good moment.

I was a big fan of Rielly’s defensive positioning, in the Leafs’ end and the neutral zone, where he was picking off a lot of long passes, clearing attempts and quickly transitioning to offence.

Mitch Marner 

Matthews was getting all of the hits against Dallas and it looks like it was Marner’s turn this time around. Frustrating as it was, Marner’s battling along the boards has been a noticeable strength this season. That and his lob passes, which got Bunting that empty-netter.

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A- 

Nick Robertson

A night of lessons for Robertson. Firstly, take care of the positions you put yourself in when it comes to hits. That led to that big scrum in the second period. Secondly, you don’t need to score points to make an impact. Robertson was noticeable on special teams, killing penalties and taking shots on the power play, including one that was 96.1 mph. I’ve also noticed he’s sneaky good at making those quick “defence to offence” plays. His overtime winner started that way and he had another one this game that almost got Nylander a goal.

B+

Rasmus Sandin 

When the home crowd is actively booing you, you know you’ve done something right for your team. Sandin’s hit on Cole Perfetti drew a crowd and brought Michael Bunting and Holl into the battle but the defenceman got the last laugh, earning an assist on the go-ahead power-play goal. Tonight also marks back-to-back games in which Sandin had a strong backcheck to steal the puck from the opposition when the Leafs were getting too fancy, leading to an odd-man rush.

Michael Bunting 

If there was a battle, Bunting was there tonight. He had a pair of scoring chances early in the first period in front of the net and wound up with a goal of his own into the empty net.

B

Wayne Simmonds 

Expectations vs. reality. We expected Simmonds to be a deterrent to anything shenanigans, similar to the game last December. What we got was a primary assist that will likely be on a number of Top 10 lists. Simmonds skated with purpose along the boards and through the zone and tried to make plays when he could, including that incredible between-the-legs feed to David Kampf.

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Mark Giordano 

The veteran had a pair of stretch passes picked off by Winnipeg as the game went on after getting a scoring chance minutes earlier. Fortunately, a fearless block after one of those turnovers led to extended zone time in their own end, settling any possible danger.

Victor Mete

Can’t ask for anything more from Mete. I thought he played a steady game, moving the puck and bodies from in front of the net.

T.J. Brodie 

Brodie led all defencemen in ice time and was in on the battles after the Robertson hit.

B-

William Nylander 

Nylander had the first of two sick passes through the legs of a Jets player to give Tavares his first of the night. In another universe, he buries the pass from Robertson but his smooth skating around the offensive zone and to the net led to a good degree of zone time for the line.

David Kampf

When in doubt, rely on a Kampf goal to spark both teams. Kampf got the play started with the breakout pass to Kyle Clifford and managed to convert the feed from Simmonds, finishing it off with a delayed goal celebration.

C+

Justin Holl

Holl gets a thumbs down on the Pierre-Luc Dubois goal for being far off on the side of the net and not doing much to help the chaos. I thought he recovered well from that with some well-timed blocks on the penalty kill.

C

Calle Jarnkrok

Jarnkrok drew a call and almost redirected a puck before Dubois scored. There’s something about the third line that needs more, and hopefully Jarnkrok can improve it as the season goes on.

Kyle Clifford 

Clifford didn’t have the best start to the night, hitting his own linemates and taking a tripping penalty in the offensive zone. Similarly to Simmonds, he wasn’t brought into the lineup to produce, but he left the arena with an assist.

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C-

Alex Kerfoot 

Kerfoot’s flyby on the Dubois goal is tough to watch on replay. Dubois has a completely open lane to the net despite Kerfoot being there to cover defence.

MIA

Zach Aston-Reese

An awkward mix of not looking out of place on the third line yet not doing much to stand out positively or negatively.

Game Score

Final grade: A-

There’s nothing better than starting a road trip with a win right? I thought the Leafs looked in control for the majority of the game. Even when there were moments where the Jets tried to capitalize on the momentum, forced turnovers and quick transitions made it difficult for Winnipeg to sustain anything. I’ve noticed an overreliance on cross-ice passes in the offensive zone and that got the Leafs in trouble at times, especially after the Jets began reading into it more. The top line finally began to adapt and started taking the puck to the middle of the ice more. And most importantly, when the game needed to be defended, everyone hung back and played to the time on the clock. They played well, pushed back, and didn’t buckle despite giving up the first goal. If I’m Sheldon Keefe, I have very few complaints about the Leafs’ performance in Winnipeg.

What’s next for the Leafs? 

Get the coffee ready as the Leafs continue their road trip on Monday night at 10 p.m. where they’ll take on Phil Kessel and the Vegas Golden Knights on TSN4.

(Photo: Jonathan Kozub / NHLI via Getty Images)

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Omar White is a hockey contributor for The Athletic whose main focus is game coverage of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has regularly contributed Leafs coverage to SB Nation and Yahoo Sports.