TORONTO – After registering a historic debut to his NHL career, Auston Matthews was named the league’s second star for the opening week of the season.

It took Matthews just two periods of his first NHL contest to tally the four goals that currently tie him for the league lead. Connor McDavid and Roberto Luongo were the other stars of the week.

“It’s a huge honour,” Matthews said Monday after practice. “I want to continue to get better and better each day. Have a short memory, it’s a long season. Continue to focus and stay focused.”

Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan lauded Matthews’ four-goal performance last Wednesday as “impressive,” but said what struck him most was how the 19-year-old centre took responsibility for a mistake he’d made in overtime, which lead to the game-winning goal.

In Saturday’s home opener, Matthews had a quieter night, registering zero points and two shots on goal. He and linemates William Nylander and Zach Hyman, who dominated against the Ottawa Senators, were stymied by the Boston Bruins.

“We were alright [Saturday]. We didn’t create too much,” Matthews said. “But at the same time we didn’t give up too much either. We’re an offensive-minded line. We want to create opportunities and we didn’t have too many there. We’ll learn from it, continue to get better.”

The downside of having such a brilliant first outing is that everyone takes notice, wanting and to be sure they’re not the next team allowing a rookie to run wild. The Bruins played a tight game against Matthews, matching his line against their own top players, including bruising defender Zdeno Chara.

Already accustomed to such adjustments, Matthews is up for the challenge.

“You’re kind of used to [getting extra attention] growing up and getting to higher and higher levels,” he said. “It’s something you have to deal with and kind of just embrace and have fun with.”

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New Leaf Matt Martin at home with team’s ‘tight group’

After spending seven seasons in the New York Islanders organization, signing a free-agent contract with the Maple Leafs last summer was a leap of faith for brawny winger Matt Martin.

Toronto was a last-place team, and the makeup of the club was far from certain. One week into the season, the Maple Leafs dressing room already has a familiar feel to Martin.

“We had a really close group on Long Island, where guys were together for a long time. I kind of see the same kind of thing happening here,” he said. “You’ve got older guys who obviously have been around for a while and you have a whole new crew of young guys coming up. I think it’s important to have that family atmosphere in a dressing room, especially in an organization like this where there’s a lot of media attention. When things don’t go well, there’s a lot of media getting on guys and things like that so it’s good to stay together and have a tight group and have that ‘us against the world’ mentality.”

At 27, Martin is the veteran of the Maple Leafs’ fourth line, along with Peter Holland and Connor Brown. Brown made the team’s opening-night roster with only seven NHL games to his name, but he has immediately gelled with the more-experienced Martin. Brown got his first goal of the season on Saturday with an assist from Holland, the first points that line has generated.

“[Connor] brings a lot of speed and energy. He’s skilled, but he’s a workhorse too,” Martin said. “He creates a lot of turnovers, gets in on the puck, great penalty kill guy. It’s nice for me to have a guy like that, who can skate the way he can and make plays the way he can.”

Martin’s physicality is, of course, the biggest reason Toronto pursued him in July and ultimately signed him to a four-year, $10-million contract. His first home game as a Maple Leaf included a tussle with none other than Zdeno Chara, while Toronto led 4-1.

“I felt fine, but obviously he’s a big guy, he’s doing his job out there,” Martin said of the third-period scuffle. “I have no problem with him doing that [when his team is losing]. It’s pretty humbling to see a guy with that kind of strength. I’ve played a lot of hockey against him, and I have a lot of respect for him.”