3 reasons why Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews remains goalless in Panthers series after three games

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has failed to score in the second-round series against the Florida Panthers.

Toronto leads the series 2-1, but it has had to rely on goals from other sources, with William Nylander finding the net thrice in three games and Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies chipping in with two apiece.

But why has Matthews remained goalless so far? Here's a look at three reasons.

3 reasons why Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews remains goalless in Panthers series

#1 Matthews has quietly grown into one of the best two-way centers in the game

Auston Matthews has matured into much more than one of the best goal-scorers in the NHL. He’s quietly grown into one of the best two-way centers in the game. As such, Matthews plays in all sorts of situations, including the penalty kill.

That situation means that Matthews has much more responsibility on his shoulders. Not every shift now is an opportunity to score goals. Like Mitch Marner, Matthews is tasked with keeping the puck out of his own net just as much as he is putting it into the opposition’s.

Moving forward, fans shouldn’t be surprised to see Matthews continue to “struggle” to score goals as the games continue to get tighter and tighter.

#2 The Matthews line cancels out the Barkov line

Matthews has faced one of the league's best shutdown forwards in Aleksander Barkov this series - Source: Imagn

Heading into this series, the expectation was that Auston Matthews’ line would cancel out Aleksander Barkov’s. For the most part, that has been the case. Both the Leafs’ and Panthers’ top lines haven’t gained as much traction due to the opposition’s strong defensive play.

It’s worth pointing out that Craig Berube has predominantly deployed the Matthews line against a Selke-winning center in Barkov. Moreover, the Panthers have done a great job of neutralizing Matthews’ biggest weapon: His booming shot.

But make no mistake. Matthews can make the Panthers pay if they slip up.

#3 Matthews leads the Stanley Cup playoffs in missing the net

Despite Matthews’ increased defensive role and playing against one of the NHL’s premier shutdown forwards, there’s one stat that cannot be overlooked.

Auston Matthews leads the Stanley Cup playoffs in shots missing the net with 19. In other words, Matthews has fired 19 times while failing to hit the target.

Again, this number does not mean that Matthews has suddenly gotten the yips. It just means that the Panthers have reduced the time Matthews has to set up and release shots. Consequently, Matthews has had to rush shots he would otherwise have had an extra split second to tee up.

It remains to be seen how long the Panthers can keep Matthews from hitting the target.