{"id":4294,"date":"2016-12-20T22:39:46","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T03:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=4294"},"modified":"2016-12-21T00:44:41","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T05:44:41","slug":"no-need-to-worry-about-auston-matthews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2016\/12\/20\/no-need-to-worry-about-auston-matthews\/","title":{"rendered":"No Need To Worry About Auston Matthews"},"content":{"rendered":"

Things have not been going well\u00a0for Leafs nation as of late. The Toronto Maple Leafs\u00a0<\/strong>are currently sitting 14th in the\u00a0Eastern Conference, and are just 3-4-3 in their last 10 games. One upside to their recent struggles, however, has been the strong play from forward\u00a0Auston Matthews<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>, who brought a lot of attention around the league earlier this season when he experienced a scoring drought of up to 13 games. With this drought came overreaction, but with his strong plays and flashes of greatness, there really seems to be no need to worry about Matthews play as of yet.<\/p>\n

Under Pressure<\/h2>\n

Being the first overall pick in this year’s NHL entry draft, Auston Matthews<\/a><\/strong> had a lot of pressure on him already, and it didn’t help that he landed in arguably the most devoted and hockey-crazy market in the NHL. In fact, Leafs fans loved him so much that his jersey flew to the top of the NHL’s sales chart after his first game.<\/p>\n

With this pressure and constant coverage, it must be hard at times for a young player to make an impact. The Leafs are young, and already have high expectations set on them. Matthews is also expected to be the leader of this team that will bring a Stanley Cup back to Toronto after 50 years. He\u00a0has to learn to deal with this pressure if he wants to succeed in Toronto.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Matthews already seems to be equipped with the personality and playing skills to survive in Toronto. Despite the media frenzy that surrounded him at his low points such as his recent scoring drought, he remained determined, responsible, and motivated–all good traits proving that he wouldn’t let the pressure get to him.<\/p>\n

Back to His Old Self<\/h2>\n

Everyone knows what Auston Matthews is capable of. You don’t go first overall for nothing after all.<\/p>\n

From his first regular season NHL game, in which he scored four goals, everyone knew he was something special. But with this skill comes expectations, which Matthews can surely meet despite some road bumps along the way.<\/p>\n

After Matthews broke his early season scoring drought, he has been absolutely spectacular for the Leafs, becoming their sole leader in points and goals.<\/p>\n

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#Leafs<\/a> Auston Matthews now has 10 points in his last 10 games (8 G, 2 A).<\/p>\n

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) December 16, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n