Auston Matthews has a flair for the dramatic, doesn’t he?
We’ll talk about his first goal of the game -- his 14th in 14 games this season -- in a bit, but it was his overtime winner that was especially special as the Toronto Maple Leafs saw off the Buffalo Sabres in a 4-3 win on NBCSN on Tuesday.
We’ve gotten used to Matthews scoring timely goals, and his snapping wrist shot off a quick two drag from the top of the left circle that went bar down past Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark with 2.7 seconds left in overtime is right up there with his best.
Just watch it happen:
Make that 15 goals in 14 games for Matthews and five goals and two assists in three games since missing 14 games with a shoulder injury. The only limit that there seems to be with Matthews and his goal and point totals this season rest in his health.
Matthews already scored a highlight reel goal earlier in the game, grabbing a puck out of the air, gently nestling down onto his stick and then wrapping it around the Sabres’ goal and into the back of the net.
Cheat codes, I say. Cheat codes.
Whatever the sorcery is, it’s helped the Maple Leafs to a five-game winning streak -- three points back of the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning (who etched out a 6-5 win on Tuesday to push their own win streak to four games).
For the Sabres, it’s their fourth straight loss and a continuation of a lesson that, in hockey, everything is finite.
A week ago, the Sabres won their 10th straight game much to the surprise of literally everyone in the hockey world. Skip ahead seven days and the Sabres are now reeling in four successive defeats.
You could have made the case prior to the game that Toronto had the upper hand coming in. Buffalo lost their third straight game on Monday in a tight 2-1 decision against the Nashville Predators.
But Buffalo performed admirably in the game and deserved the point they got.
Jack Eichel, known to have his own flair for the dramatic, single-handedly pull the Sabres into the lead in the third period after entering the frame down 2-1.
The Sabres peppered Fredrik Anderen at times, putting up 41 shots in the game.
Linus Ullmark had to be special at the other end of the ice, too, but there was no stopping some of the shots he faced -- Matthews overtime winner being one of them -- and this play right out of NHL 19 being another.
What Tuesday’s game confirmed is that a seven-game series between both of these clubs would be quite the treat for the hockey world.
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck