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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel have faced off 14 times in their National Hockey League careers and the friends and former teammates always seem to bring the best out in each other.

Eichel has 13 goals and eight assists in those games, while Matthews isn't far behind with 11 goals and six assists.

One of their recent encounters will be back in the spotlight Friday as TSN4 replays a Toronto-Buffalo game from Dec. 17. Back then, the Sabres led the Maple Leafs by three points in the Atlantic Division standings, but Toronto was charging hard under new coach Sheldon Keefe.

Eichel entered the night riding a 16-game point streak, while Matthews was actually taking a bit of heat after failing to hit the scoresheet in the final two games of a Western Canada swing.

Matthews and Eichel didn't go head-to-head most of the night as Keefe preferred to match the John Tavares line against the Sabres captain, but the pair of American stars still engaged in some one-upmanship. Matthews scored twice in the second, including on a beautiful deke. Eichel, who played despite not being 100 per cent, dragged the Sabres back in the third period with a pair of points. 

You can relive the game starting at 7:30 pm ET. Chris Cuthbert and Jamie McLennan had the call with reporter Kristen Shilton rinkside.

Don Granato coached both Matthews and Eichel at the USA Hockey National Development Program and now serves as an assistant with the Sabres. Granato watched the Dec. 17 game this week and joined TSN to break down the key moments and what they illustrate about the development of the two superstars.

The following is an edited transcript of the conversation.

Matthews had two really nice goals in that game on Dec. 17. What stood out about his performance?

"Well, you're being very conservative in that assessment there. Those were highlight goals. Those were incredible goals that excite a building, excite the bench. When I saw him score goals like that at 15 and 16 years old it seemed like the more the goal showed a high level of skill, the less he celebrated because he sensed that maybe another guy can't do this. Those two goals in this particular game were highlight-reel goals from the standpoint that he showed skill that the average NHLer doesn't have."

The first goal is a laser of a shot. He finds an open space after coming off the bench and makes no mistake. What do you notice about that shot?

"He's got so much power and torque in such a compact release that it makes defenders and goaltenders anxious before the shot's coming, because you know it's going to be released quick and he has it prepped. So, you don't know when it's going to be released and you almost have a moment of anxiety before he releases the puck. If you're a goaltender, you see thousands of pucks through practice and pre-game and there's just something a little different in the release and the explosiveness off the stick that goal scorers have and both these guys [Matthews and Eichel] have that."

Matthews' second goal of the night was also off the rush. He took a feed from William Nylander and pulled off a nice deke using that shot of his as a decoy. What do you remember about that play? 

"You see that everybody overcompensates for the shot threat ... it puts everybody in a very anxious state, puts them on their heels and lots of times they overcompensate and that's what you see when Auston opted out of the shot and tucked it in on the backhand."

Matthews actually started the play in the defensive end by winning a battle. Where have you seen him improve and become a more complete player since his junior days?

"You know what? He really played a two-way game for me and I give him a lot of credit for that. The hard part for all these great athletes is no one pays to see a two-way game. You know, you pay and you want to be entertained and see them score. There's so much pressure on the great athletes to focus on scoring, so it's not that they're not two-way players ... it's [just] hard for them, in a game, to have a focus both ways when there's so much pressure on them to score goals for their team. That's an issue for players – to eventually find a comfort zone in whatever market they're in throughout the league. But I can tell you that both these guys, Jack and Auston, I've seen their tremendous two-way games in World Championships as 17- and 18-year-olds and they were very reliable players in those roles."

So, the third period starts and it's 3-0 Leafs and knowing Eichel, he wasn't going to go quietly. He sets up Rasmus Dahlin for a power-play goal to extend his point streak to 17 games. What stood out about his night?

"Well, a side story from this game. Jack wasn't feeling well and missed the next game, our game in Philadelphia a couple of nights later, but he wasn't feeling well in this game. We didn't know that as coaches until after the game when he looked depleted and exhausted. He didn't show the signs of that, because his competitive drive pushed him through, but it depleted him as a result. He gave everything he had and obviously played a tremendous game and was a key component to any potential we had to win. It was down to the wire even though we fell down by three. He willed us back into that game and made it interesting in the third."

Eichel had a goal, an assist and drew a penalty late in the third. His goal was a beautiful shot, a  bullet under the bar on the blocker side. He said he wanted to score more this season and mission accomplished on that front (36 goals in 68 games). What changes did you notice in him this season?

"He is a player that really surveys the rink when he has the puck. He looks and wants to involve other people, his linemates, in the play, so he's calculating and assessing what his opportunities are. What he's adding to his game is even more decisiveness. So, there has to be a balance between what I mentioned there and just being decisive and making the decision and being direct, and I think that's what he's adding to his game and has added to his game. With the initiative he's taken in that regard he's been more productive as a goal scorer. With that focus of his and with the intensity of his, he is going to score more goals. He had more goals this year and he'll increase his numbers in that area."

What stood out about the Dahlin goal?

“It just looks so simple, but they were so efficient in moving the puck and backing off coverage and then Rasmus took a shot through a screen at the right time and didn't over-handle the puck, just kept it very simple. So, a lot of subtleties in that goal. As these players evolve in their career or mature through their career, they learn to become more efficient and simplify the game without compromising the skill. They realize how at this level, it’s the highest level, so you're adjusting and acclimating really to being up against no weak links. So, you learn to become more efficient and wiser and pick your spots and when you have the skill sets of the players we just mentioned and they do that, they are every bit as deadly as they were at previous levels. And for Rasmus, that's been an ongoing process. We saw a lot of growth in him this year and he is, just as we mentioned with Auston and Jack, he is a fun player to watch in practice and in games."

In what ways are Matthews and Eichel similar?

"They are ultra-competitive. Typically, you think of the superstar players around the league and you can compare all the skill sets and they all have little differences in their skill sets, but the one thing they all seem to share is that ultra-competitiveness and very high self-expectation or a burn to compete at a high level. And with these two guys it was very noticeable even when they were 15 years old that they had that."

Any stories about that competitiveness stand out?

"Auston played two games right away in September in his very first year and then broke his leg, someone stuck a knee out on him, so he missed the rest of September, October, November and came back in early December. About three weeks before he came back, he got the pin out of his leg and was able to skate and he thought he could play immediately, but the doctors weren't clearing him for another three weeks. Each day Auston had to go out early, before practice, and he would just light up the goaltenders and then he'd come by the trainer and wink at him every time ... I caught him one time. I walked out there and I saw him winking as if to say, 'I'm ready,' and the doctors still wouldn't clear him for three weeks.

"They're both fun guys. They're both fun teammates and, again, the thing they have in common is that desire to compete and be great and that's what's driven their skill level to the heights that it is and will drive it even further."