One period later, it was definitely that.
With the game still seeking its first goal and the Maple Leafs one shot away from elimination, Toronto forward Mitch Marner corralled a loose puck just outside the Florida blue line and slipped it to Matthews.
His eyesight now intact, he took a couple of strides to the top of the left face-off circle and unleashed his patented snap shot. To that point, he’d never scored a playoff goal against the Panthers in 10 previous games.
Until now.
When the puck went through the legs of Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and into the back of the net, it did more than just give Toronto a 1-0 lead with 13:40 remaining in regulation.
Indeed, it gave Matthews a signature playoff moment that had previously been too far and few between.
He’d gone five games without a goal and had just two in 11 previous playoff games this spring. Prior to that he had 33 during the regular season, the fewest in his career, partially due to an upper-body injury that had plagued him all season. So many times he’d failed to be a difference-maker under the bright lights of the postseason stage.
And in this, his ninth NHL season, Toronto fans finally were running out of patience with him, so much so that he specifically was targeted with boos by the home crowd during the Maple Leafs’ moribund 6-1 loss in Game 5 on Wednesday. At one point in the third period, a disgusted fan threw a Matthews No. 34 jersey on the ice, a symbolic gesture, not to mention an unflattering one.
But he changed that narrative on Friday, at least for the time being, with the type of gutsy performance his teammates were in awe of.
“I mean, it’s such a huge, huge goal,” forward Max Pacioretty said. “You know, that’s a situation where no one wants to make a mistake. You could feel the tension on both sides there at that point in the game. And then just an unbelievable shot from an unbelievable player.
“That’s why he’s our captain.”
One who couldn’t help but feel relief when he saw the puck enter the net.
“It felt great,” Matthews said. “I’ve had some good opportunities all series, and so I’m going to keep shooting and keep believing that the next one’s going in.
“So, that one felt great.”
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