Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner acted up when they were reunited on the ice Saturday in St. Louis, and the pair are now hoping they’ll be able to stay healthy and grow their chemistry.
Marner missed three games of his own due to a positive COVID-19 test result. But, like Matthews, he hit the target and had two runs in a 6-5 Toronto Maple Leafs win over the Blues. The combination they formed with Michael Bunting also gave the opposing defense a lot of headaches.
“I hope we can consistently play together during practices and games,” Matthews said in remarks reported Monday by the daily. Toronto Sun.
“It would be nice to have a rhythm, to see each other every day and to continue to grow in terms of chemistry to hopefully continue to have evenings like [contre les Blues] where we control the game a lot.”
Mortal
That said, Matthews hasn’t slowed down in Marner’s absence. He’s threaded the needle in the team’s last four games and is on pace to tie a National Hockey League (NHL) record by scoring a goal in 11 straight road games; Matthews has 10 and the brand is owned by Steve Yzerman.
The 24-year-old American is third in the National League with 25 goals, behind Leon Draisaitl and Alexander Ovechkin (26). He is also third in shots on goal with 151. And if his shooting is appreciated in his clan, his approach and his habits have also charmed.
“[Son tir] is lethal,” Marner said. It’s something we like to have on our team. He’s a guy who comes in every day and works hard, competes and tries to get better every day.”
The Toronto squad will return to action on Wednesday when they visit the New York Rangers.