The Toronto Maple Leafs kicked off 2026 with what could be the most fun game of the year, defeating the Winnipeg Jets 6-5 at home.
A new year gives everyone a fresh start and Auston Matthews took full advantage scoring a hat-trick against the Jets on Thursday night. With four or more goals in four of their past five games,, Toronto's offense is heating up as this team looks to make a push for a playoff spot.
As much as a rebuild or retool seems like the right direction for this organization, it feels impossible to go that direction after watching Matthews' performance against Winnipeg. He scored three completely different goals, including the game-winning goal which erupted the crowd.
His first goal was an incredible tip driving the net, then he followed that up with a vintage snap-shot. Lastly, he showed off his amazing hands deeking the goaltender in-front to score a backhander. For years, we've watched Matthews score in many different ways and his new year couldn't have started off any better.
I don't expect Matthews to score multiple goals per night for the rest of the year, but he should have some motivation for the next few games as he sits only one goal behind Mats Sundin for the Leafs all-time goal record. Despite playing in less than roughly 220 games, Matthews already has 419 career goals in the blue-and-white. His next goal will tie Sundin, as the former captain scored 420 goals in 987 games.
Vintage Matthews turns back the clock in win against the Jets
Nostalgia is a funny thing because it feels like the fanbase values and loves Sundin way more than Matthews right now, despite the Arizona native being so much better. Sundin never won a Stanley Cup, or an award for that matter, but because their team reached two Eastern Conference Finals, he's more beloved.
Although it's hard to recognize it in the moment, Matthews is the greatest Leaf of all-time and we all should be lucky to be witnessing what he's doing on a nightly basis. That's why his game against Winnipeg is so great to see because it's been awhile since he's gone "Vintage Matthews" but we all know it's in there.
As a result, a 6-5 win is the type of Leafs win we remember during the Sheldon Keefe Era and hopefully those are the games we get to continue to see for the rest of the regular season because they're way more fun than 2-1 losses. Toronto is not built for a forechecking tight style, but instead should be more "run and gun". I know that's a basketball reference, highlighted by Mike D'Antoni's Phoneix Suns but you know what I mean.
Although I've tried to convince myself that Matthews playing more like Patrice Bergeron is how this team will suceed, but that unfortunately can't be the case in the regular season. When the playoffs hit, he can play a shutdown centre role, while scoring timely goals, but in the regular season he needs to rack up as many points as he can.
Let's hope that 2026 is a positive year for the Leafs because the second half of 2025 was ugly.