Brad Marchand’s attention to detail trumps Auston Matthews in the marquee response game

Auston Matthews was two minutes away from going unscathed in one of his best performances of the regular season. It was a three-point night for the Toronto Maple Leafs captain as he seemed to lead his team back into a game in which they had no business staying competitive. Matthews, Marner, Matthew Nice were the only Maple Leafs team to consistently drive the game, while Chris Tanev’s shot-blocking heroics and Anthony Stolarz’s poised demeanor certainly deserve praise. But it’s all in vain.

Matthews and the Maple Leafs underlined the answer coming off their worst two-game stretch of the year, and while the team was outplayed, outplayed and loaded throughout the night, Toronto’s captain worked tirelessly to score with one minute, 17 seconds left in regulation to tie the contest. Saturday’s game was a return game for both Matthews and fellow tight end Brad Marchand, who made costly mistakes that drew national attention after their respective head coaches took them to task.

And in the end, Marchand’s attention to detail won Matthews over. In overtime, when Matthews almost scored a potential winner, he made a crucial error. Matthews casually tossed the puck up the ice in his own backcourt, seemingly expecting a teammate to be there. Davyd Pastrnak kept possession of the ball, made a pass to Marchan, who unhindered the goal and scored the winning goal in extra time. We’ve seen this scenario happen, but after Matthews took over Thursday’s performance, he was the last player expected to pull off a fluky overtime loss.