G79 New Jersey Devils vs. Toronto Maple Leafs: Beginning of the end

With the playoffs completely out of the picture, it's no coincidence the plug was pulled on Jack Hughes.

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A few notes to get you set for New Jersey vs. Toronto:

The supercharged superstar

Auston Matthews is the best goal-scorer in the league. No ifs, ands, or buts. He is hitting new levels with his scoring outputs – he’s at 65 and counting – but the reality is he has led the league in goals since the day he joined the NHL.

What’s crazy for the Maple Leafs, and miserable for opponents (like the Devils, who have to face him twice in a row, is they may have found a way to get even more out of Matthews.

Mitch Marner was recently sidelined with an injury, which provided Max Domi with an opportunity to skate in the RW1 spot. Matthews’ shot and scoring rates have skyrocketed even higher than they already were with Domi on his right side rather than Marner (or William Nylander).

The differences are staggering.

Matthews has nearly doubled his scoring rate with Domi. While that’s obviously unrealistic to maintain over a larger sample, a massive uptick in shots, chances, and expected goals suggests Matthews has legitimately hit another gear with Domi.

This isn’t just a case of Domi, as pass-happy as anybody, spoon-feeding Matthews while the team as a whole suffers. The Maple Leafs have garnered elite results across the board when Matthews plays with Domi.

This is a long-winded way of saying the Maple Leafs have found a way to make the NHL’s best scorer even better.

The Devils rank 26th in shot suppression and 27th in xG prevention since deadline day. They are struggling mightily right now.

The thought of trying to slow down a supercharged Matthews is a frightening one, to say the least.

Jake Allen, good sir. You’re going to need to do the heavy lifting here.

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