The Daily Auston: Drew Doughty Might Want This Quote About The Maple Leafs' Defense Back
7 games into the season. 10 goals. 6 assists. At least 2 points in each of the first 7 games of the season for Auston Matthews. There are only a few players in the history of the NHL who have ever done that, and maybe you’ve heard some of these names before.
Here’s a fun little fact for all you boys and girls back home. Auston Matthews was born on September 17, 1997. So yeah, he wasn’t even a twinkle in his old man’s eyes the last time somebody had multi-point games in each of their opening 7 of the season. Not a big deal or anything like that. Now last night was the first game of the season that AM34 didn’t score a goal himself. But this assist right here that was already highlighted in today’s Top 5 Goals blog should have been worth 2 points on its own.
That right there, my friends, is a man named Drew Doughty. A two-time Stanley Cup champion. A two-time Olympic gold medalist. A Norris Trophy winner. One of the best defensemen in the game and that’s why he just signed an 8-year, $11M AAV contract extension over the summer. We’ve seen Doughty break up countless amounts of 2v1’s before. He takes pretty much a perfect angle here as he hits the deck and slides at Matthews. Even after Matthews is able to maneuver around the slide, he swipes the stick back to surely break up the pass. But Matthews still manages to get that pass by Doughty, right on the tape for Kapanen, and then Kapanen goes forehand-backhand on the finish. A move like that around Drew Doughty would be a nice enough highlight for Auston Matthews on his own, but especially so after this quote from Doughty earlier in the day.
Listen. Everybody in the world knows that the Toronto Maple Leafs could use some help defensively. They have scored the most goals in the NHL this year but they’ve also given up the 2nd most. They’re 6-1 on the season so the lack of defense isn’t hurting them too much right now. But you probably shouldn’t have to squeak out an overtime win if you’re scoring 7 goals in one night. So what Drew Doughty is saying isn’t necessarily wrong, and I’m sure that this was mostly just meant to be a light hearted chirp. With that being said….
Auston Matthews doesn’t want to hear any of your shit. You think the Leafs need help on defense? Well guess what, buddy. You could stick a couple of cones out there on D and a trash can in the net. It doesn’t matter because the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to outscore everybody to death. Auston Matthews isn’t here for your “defense wins championships” bullshit. When is the last time anybody has ever won a game of anything after scoring 0 goals? That’s right. Never. The best defense is a mother fucking nasty offense. Kind of hard for the other team to score when you constantly have the puck, no? Kind of hard for the other team to win a game when you’re constantly putting up 5 or 6 or 7 goals, no? Sure life would probably be easier for the Leafs if they had more help defensively and I’m sure they’re out there looking for the help. But Drew Doughty is one of the best defensemen in the NHL and if he can’t even stop Matthews, then why would Toronto have to worry about defense?
And then as far as Dion Phaneuf goes, after this play last night I can’t imagine the Leafs would be contacting LA anytime soon to try to reverse the trade.
Good Dion.
Bad Dion.
The Leafs don’t play again until Thursday night against the Penguins. So that means we get The Daily Auston until at least Friday. But chances are Matthews will put on a show in front of Sid and Malkin so my guess is that this streak keeps going into the weekend. The have the Blues on Saturday, then Patrik Laine and the Jets next Wednesday and Saturday. Matthews vs Laine in a little home&home action? Thank you very much, sir.