Matthews steps up for Maple Leafs in Game 3 win against Bruins

TORONTO -- Air Canada Centre shook.
At least it did in Auston Matthews' world.
For the first 154:47 of the Eastern Conference First Round, the Maple Leafs center had been held without a point. The Boston Bruins held him in check in their two victories in Boston, and the same was happening deep into the second period of Game 3 on Monday.

Then, with a quick snap of his wrists, all that changed.
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With the score tied 2-2, William Nylander faked a shot from the high slot, then slid a perfect feed to Matthews. Without hesitation, he shot the puck high into the short side past goalie Tuukka Rask, giving the Maple Leafs a 3-2 lead and removing an enormous amount of pressure from his 20-year-old shoulders.
As the fans erupted, Matthews unleashed a tribal scream and punched his fist in the air. It was the type of raw emotion Toronto had been badly lacking in the first two games.
"It felt like an earthquake in your feet," Matthews said of the moment. "Just the emotion of the crowd."
The goal, at 14:47, would prove to be the game-winner in 4-2 victory. Boston leads the best-of-7 series 2-1, with Game 4 here on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, NESN).
The goal helped the Maple Leafs get some much-needed momentum in a series they'd had precious little of.

Boston's first line of David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron had combined for 20 points through the first two games, while Mitchell Marner, Matthews and Nylander -- Toronto's top scorers in the regular season -- had combined for two, a goal and an assist by Marner.
It was a different story in Game 3. Marner (two assists), Nylander (assist) and Matthews (goal) had four points, while, Pastrnak, Marchand and Bergeron had none and were a combined minus-7.
Though there were other positive aspects of their play to be encouraged with, the Maple Leafs insisted this was about Matthews, about a kid who is the face of the franchise.
"He's a star, one of the best players in the League, and he takes it personally when the team doesn't do well," defenseman Morgan Rielly said. "You could see how much that goal meant to him. You could see it on his face.
"What did he go, pointless for 2 1/2 games? And people were actually calling that a slump? What a joke."
That quickly changed after the goal, when the fans busted out into chants of "Aus-ton Mat-thews …!"
It was a moment in this series, and in Matthews' NHL career, that Toronto coach Mike Babcock said was significant, especially given some of the feedback the second-year player was getting via social media.

"I think it's important," Babcock said. "I think when you're my age, social media, it doesn't even really affect your life. When you're his age, it affects your life and you know what people are saying, and it's not just what people are saying -- you want to be the best player in the world and it's not going the way you want -- it probably tightens you up.
"Now, I haven't talked to him about this … but I think tonight gets a huge weight off his shoulders, and instead of thinking about all this stuff it'll just come natural and he'll get playing again. That, to me, is a huge thing for him.
"What you've got to remember is these guys are young guys. They're playing against real players and they're young guys. You've got to go through some of these slappings in your life to respond, and learn how to play and do things right."
Matthews led the Maple Leafs with four goals in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs but Toronto lost to the Washington Capitals in six games in the Eastern Conference First Round. He came into the matchup against the Bruins confident of using that experience to take the next step, but had been held in check.
Game 3 was about proving a point, for Matthews and the Maple Leafs.
"Absolutely," Matthews said. "I think everybody did. I didn't feel like we played to the capability we're capable of so tonight was definitely a statement game for us.
"We knew this was kind of a do-or-die game for us. We've been good at home and it was a fun game, a good one for us."