Matthews looks to stay hot as the Bedard circus hits town

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks practised at the Ford Performance Centre on Sunday ahead of their game on Monday.

Blackhawks phenom Connor Bedard spent countless hours watching video of Leafs superstar Auston Matthews when he was growing up. The 2023 first overall pick then went to his backyard and tried to replicate the toe-drag release that the 2016 first overall pick has used to torment goalies. On Monday, Bedard will get to see the Matthews' shot up close when they faceoff in the NHL for the first time. 

"He's someone that I feel like kind of pioneered this certain shot," the 18-year-old centre said. "Ever since he came into the league, he's been someone I've loved to watch and looked up to just [because] how he plays the game. His shot's obviously something everyone knows about, but just his complete game and how he is in his own end, how he is all around the ice is pretty special."

With consecutive three-goal performances, Matthews is off to his best ever start in the NHL. Bedard, meanwhile, has a point in all three games of his NHL career so far. 

"He shoots it as good as anybody I've seen," said Matthews, who's never met Bedard. "He's definitely special in that regard and he's able to make plays and sees the ice really well, has a great IQ."

---

The Blackhawks are in the middle of a five-game trip, which includes stops in several big hockey markets.

Bedard debuted against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday before heading to Boston to take on the Bruins, who won last year's Presidents' Trophy, on Wednesday.

On Saturday, Bedard made his Canadian debut at the Bell Centre against the Montreal Canadiens.  

"They sure started him off on the all-circus tour," Matthews said with a grin. "I mean, it's a lot, I think. But then, in the end, you just want to play hockey and that's what's most important, and being around your teammates, being around the guys and just having fun playing in the NHL."

Chicago's daunting road trip will wrap up with a high-altitude encounter with Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. That will be Colorado's home opener. 

"We play four out of five home openers against teams," Blackhawks winger Taylor Hall pointed out. "And then we play in Colorado at 8:30 and fly back and have our home opener with no practice time before it or anything. So, not making any excuses, but it is a tough trip." 

Bedard has embraced the trial by fire. 

"When I found out we started on this trip I was really excited for the home openers, Canadian markets," said Bedard, who actually heard some boos on Saturday night. "Montreal's home opener, that was kind of cool."

Leafs centre John Tavares, the first overall pick in 2009 by the New York Islanders, believes Bedard is built to handle the heat. 

"What makes the special players, elite players, so good is not just their ability, but to be able to handle all the demands, the expectations, the noise around them," said Tavares, who also opened his NHL career with a three game point streak. "I think it's extremely impressive how he carries himself. Very well spoken, very humble and I think very driven. Just enjoys playing the game and doesn't put too much stock into anything. I think he just wants to go out there and be great and compete. I got to be around him the last couple summers so you can really sense that."

Although there is some concern about how intense the attention has been. Everyone wants a piece of the prodigy. 

"He does way too many in-game interviews and stuff," said Hall, the first overall pick in 2010 by the Edmonton Oilers. "They need to find a way to just let him play. But I think he understands his role as a major ambassador for the game of hockey and he's handling it so well. He doesn't seem to be fazed by it, but I think that it can be a little much for him at times. He doesn't say that, but it feels like it is."

The Leafs have a rule prohibiting rookies from doing intermission interviews. It was initially brought in by Lou Lamoriello when he was the general manager in Toronto. Matthews and Mitch Marner, for example, didn't have to do any intermission interviews during their freshman campaigns. (This got tricky for broadcasters considering Matthews scored 40 goals while playing on a line with fellow rookies William Nylander and Zach Hyman.)

Is answering a couple questions before heading to the room really that big of a distraction? 

"You have 18 minutes in an intermission to collect your breath and think about some adjustments," Hall said. "If you're spending four or five minutes of that doing interviews it's hard. But he's handling it well."

"I don't know if I've, honestly, had too many," Bedard said of the interviews. "I've talked to some guys about it and just kind of that rookie summer and start of the year. It's going to be a little crazier just because people haven't talked to you or seen you play, so for me it's just enjoying it. I'm living out a dream right now. I look at it like that."

There was a reminder of just how good Bedard is at processing pressure on Sunday. Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada's senior vice-president of hockey operations, swung by the practice facility to present Bedard and fellow Blackhawk Kevin Korchinski with their World Junior championship rings. Bedard led Canada to gold in Halifax and was named the tournament's MVP in January. 

"He loves playing hockey, but he seems to love the highest level of competition," said Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson. "He's always rose to the occasion. So, another good one for him to be in tomorrow night. He doesn't shy away from the big moments."

---

Matthews didn't enter the NHL with quite as much hype as Bedard, but that quickly changed after his four-goal debut. 

"It was just all so new," he recalled. "Adjusting to that and getting to know all you fine people (smile), yeah you adjust and get used to it over time."

The outside pressure is one thing, but it's the internal pressure that Matthews puts on himself that makes him truly special. On Saturday night, his line was on the ice for the Minnesota Wild's opening goal and it was Matthews' man, Ryan Hartman, who scored it.

"I felt a little bit of responsibility on that play just trying to front that puck and missing it," Matthews said. "You want to try and get that back."

Minutes later, Matthews potted the first of his three goals in a 7-4 victory over the Wild . 

After an injury-plagued 40-goal campaign, Matthews is healthy and looking like the player who scored 60 en route to the Hart Trophy in the 2021-22 season. 

"You just got a lot of vibes [from] a couple years ago where he just gets in one of those zones," Tavares said. "He's just so in control of his game and the game in general ... It's not just the goal scoring, but you see the takeaways, how he wins battles, his puck protection. His ability to manoeuvre his body and control the puck is really, really elite. It's something that I'm not sure if you guys talk about a whole lot, but we recognize it. It's stuff that's really hard to do and he makes it look really easy. All those things are really in sync."

How does Matthews move so well with a 6-foot-3 frame? 

"I would love to know," Tavares said with a chuckle. "He's just an elite talent that sees and understands the game so well."

Tavares highlighted the third goal Matthews scored on Saturday. 

"Just how he's spinning with the puck, defender coming on him, understanding the time and space and having to get to the far post to tuck it in," the 33-year-old captain said. "It's just a unique skill that's very hard to teach and that the very best have."

For the record, Tavares believes Bedard has similar potential. 

"The shot is talked about a lot, which obviously is really elite, but his hockey sense, puck control, the way he sees the game is going to be amongst the best in the world," Tavares said. "You can see how he can just control play in the game and play always seems to go through him. Yeah, special talent."

---

The goal scoring from Matthews has helped the Leafs go 2-0-0 to start the season despite allowing nine goals. Ilya Samsonov has been in net for both games and has an ugly .839 save percentage. He also allowed three goals on 23 shots in his final preseason game. 

"Better and better every game," the 26-year-old insists. "Still, I have a couple sh—ty goals, s—ty bounces. I will be working hard to figure out this."

Samsonov and goalie coach Curtis Sanford are focusing on his stance. 

"You get too low, it's hard to move," Samsonov noted. "He said, 'Get your stance a little bit higher and it will be easier to move.'"

Sheldon Keefe chalks up Samsonov's struggles to the time of year. 

"Just looks like it's early and he hasn't found his groove yet," the Leafs head coach said. "But, at the same time, as we've talked about lots over the last number of years, no matter who's in goal there's a responsibility for our team defence to help take care of our goalies and we haven't done nearly a good enough job in that area."

Joseph Woll will start on Monday against the Blackhawks. 

"He looks way more comfortable like he knows he belongs here now," Keefe observed of the 25-year-old. "He earned that through his play last season."

Woll started nine games with the Leafs last season, including two in the playoffs.

---

In the third period on Saturday, Keefe made his first line shuffle of the season. He moved Calle Jarnkrok to the second line with Tavares and Nylander. Max Domi was bumped to the third line with rookies Fraser Minten and Matthew Knies. 

"I thought the Tavares-Nylander line could use more defensive help," Keefe explained. "I thought that the Minten and Knies line could use a little more offensive push, punch and playmaking."

Keefe stuck with the new look at Sunday's practice. At the end of the workout, he pulled Domi over for a chat. 

"My focus with Max is how he manages the puck offensively," Keefe revealed. "If you don't take care of puck offensively you have to defend that much more so that's really it. We want to do a better job when we lose the puck but, in Max's case, it's how he can keep his group and himself on offence more often."

Domi is minus-three, which is the worst mark among Toronto's forwards. 

---

Despite their inexperience at this level, Keefe feels Minten, 19, and Knies, 20, have performed well defensively. 

"That's one thing that has been consistent for them in both games," he said. "They have defended really well. Defensively they were our best line yesterday by far, actually. [They] gave up the least of any line. We felt strong enough about their game that we could move Jarny away from them and they would still be good and I liked them again in the third period. With Max's addition they seemed like they got a little more happening offensively."

Minten and Knies, who stayed in a hotel during training camp, are now living with Tavares. 

"Instead of hiring babysitters I just bring guys from the team," Tavares, a father of three young boys, joked. "It's been great. Kniesy came in last year and it was a real natural fit. I talked a lot about how Doug Weight did that for me as a young player and being around his family and the wonders that did for me so to be able to come full circle in a way is great ... My boys love it. It's a win win for all of us."

--- 

Matthews received the player-of-the-game belt from Tavares after his opening-night effort so it was his responsibility to pass it on after Saturday's win. Several teammates shouted, "Keep it! Keep it!" after Matthews turned another trick, but the Arizona native used the opportunity to highlight one of his newest teammates in Ryan Reaves. 

Reaves, who was facing his old team for the first time, delivered a big hit on Frederick Gaudreau in the first period and dropped the gloves with Marcus Foligno. 

"He knows his role to a tee and he doesn't ever stray from that," Matthews said. "He's been an unreal addition. Big hits, just kind of getting the momentum back on our side, and obviously he's not afraid to chuck them. It's always awesome to see and I imagine there's going to be a lot more of that throughout the rest of the season."

---

Matthews' second goal on Saturday came on the power play. Toronto has converted on four of seven chances so far. 

"We're just kind of simplifying it, but in the right way," Matthews said. "I think just attacking the net a little bit more and maybe not resetting the puck as much, and just trying to attack seams, find the open space and get the puck to the net and try to outnumber guys." 

The results are encouraging because there is a new assistant coach, Guy Boucher, overseeing the power play this season. He introduced some tweaks to the system even though Toronto finished second overall in that department last season. 

"It's a mindset of attacking a little bit more," said Nylander, who scored a power-play goal in the opener. "And going to the net with the puck is probably a big thing." 

The Leafs also scored twice with the goalie pulled in the opening game against Montreal. 

---

When Hall got hurt on a hit from Bruins defenceman Brandon Carlo on Wednesday night, the winger was initially listed as week-to-week. But at Sunday's practice, he was back on the top line beside Bedard and Ryan Donato. 

"I feel good," the 31-year-old said. "I wouldn't say I'm 110 per cent, but definitely good enough to play and much better than I was even two days ago. Every day I wake up feeling a bit better, less sore."

Hall spoke with Carlo briefly after the game and has no issue with the hit.

"I know how quick the game can be," he said. "When I watched the replay, it was a fast play. I put myself in a vulnerable spot. Was it a hit to the head? Maybe. But I passed the concussion test with ease and was just dealing with a shoulder thing. That's hockey and that's the way it goes and at the end of the day you got to control the spots you put yourself in on the ice." 

---

Lines at Leafs practice on Sunday: 

Bertuzzi - Matthews - Marner 
Jarnkrok - Tavares - Nylander 
Knies - Minten - Domi 
Gregor - Kampf - Reaves

Rielly - Brodie
McCabe - Klingberg 
Giordano - Liljegren 
Benoit 

Woll starts
Samsonov