How did Auston Matthews do at the the All Star Game?

Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY SPORTS

Last night, NHL All-Star and, most importantly, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews took part in the first half of the weekend’s on-ice festivities: the Skills Competition. He did well at times, and not so well at others. Today, however, was the actual game, which saw Matthews trade in his blue and white for yellow and black as he attempted to help the Atlantic Division to $1 million worth of 3-on-3 glory.

It didn’t go great for the team, but it was a fun showing nonetheless.

Seemed less shaky today than he was in the in the skills competition line. That’s funny to say about a lights-out superstar, but again, he’s a 19-year-old that’s less than half a year into being an NHLer. The Staples Center crowd gave him a pretty good ovation for a neutral player from another conference.

How I imagine this went:

“Hey Auston, I thought you played for the Leafs, what’s with the jersey?”

“Hey Shanny, I thought you ran the Leafs, what’s with the jersey?”

“…”

“…”

“So what city are we starting the parade in next year”

Not exactly Gretzky and Howe in 1980, but for those with East Coast Bias, seeing Auston and Sid face off against each other is pretty great.

Early in, Matthews was gifted a wide open chance to open the scoring. Sergei Bobrovsky tracked him well, but it was Auston who messed it up, similar to the puck control part of the relay last night. Again, it might just be nerves.

Eventually, though, he got a goal. Sure, that may have been the worst defensive effort I’ve ever seen, but the snipe was placed beautifully. It wasn’t enough for his Division, though, as they lost 10-6 in the first round.

Look on the bright side, though; if the Atlantic is this bad, those divisional games down the stretch should be a breeze.

Overall, Matthews played 8:16 in ice time, longer than any player on any of the four division played in either game. He ended up taking four shots on goal, notched himself a takeaway, won 40% of his draws, and was a -1. Because the game is inputted into the NHL’s play-by-play logs, we can even look to the fancy stats to see how he did there, and, as it turns out, he led the Atlantic Division in Corsi-For Percentage. Not that it really matters in a twenty minute three on three game where nobody is really trying, but it’s still a neat stat.

What matters more is that Matthews got to have a moment where he could skip the tunnel vision and really absorb that the state that his hockey career was in right now, that he got to have some fun, and that he represented the Leafs well on the big stage. Now, he’ll come back to Toronto, ready to take the game seriously again.