Auston Matthews has just flipped the narrative of Game 6 during the NHL playoff series. Because when the pressure was high, the spotlight turned harsh on Matthews. Perhaps what was worse than that were the whispers of underperformance growing into bold claims. “The chances have been there,” he said when asked about his lack of goals. “I think I’ve got to do a better job bearing down on them.” And now it looks like the Matthews might be getting back into form right when the pressure on the Maple Leafs is hitting its peak as game 7 looms.

“From Captain America to Captain Underpants,” read some of the headlines that criticized Matthews for scoring 0 goals in the series. But fast forward to Game 6, and the momentum shifted with his crucial goal in their 2-0 win. Well, call it a spark that sent a reminder to the entire hockey world of what leadership can look like when the stakes are highest. To say that with a series-defining Game 7 on the horizon, the story is far from over because the narrative might just be changing.

And just like praising all the shining stars, the head coach didn’t hesitate a moment to throw the spotlight on the Maple Leafs captain for scoring that final goal that turned out to be a 2-0 win for Toronto. But what did he say? “It starts with his determination. You know, his leadership that way rubs off on the rest of our team when they see him going the way he was going tonight,” Craig Berube said in his post-match media interview, shutting down all the playoff curse surrounding the young captain! Because hey, Matthews proved them wrong.

Talk about the moment when the world seemed darker to him, and Auston Matthews battled through the adversity of a frightening eye injury after being clipped by Aleksander Barkov’s stick, which slipped under his face shield! But scoring mattered the most, right? And he did it, perfectly, despite his vision getting blurred. “Auston, for me, it’s almost consistently all nights. It’s like he plays 200 feet for me, touches all areas of the game, and got a big goal for us tonight,” the head coach pointed out while highlighting the captain’s all-around performance that got the series finally tied to 3-3 now.

After all, that playoff curse around Matthews did stem from a painful pattern. At first it was his inability to consistently deliver in the most critical, high-pressure games of the postseason. But last night he proved himself to be one of the NHL’s elite scorers, right? “I thought he was very determined tonight um competed extremely hard and, you know, touched all areas of the game,” even Berube couldn’t deny the fact. Because for a player of his stature, that drought was glaring. And then came the boos on home ice during a brutal 6-1 loss in Game 5, but hey, look who came out stronger, finally breaking all the curses.

But what is the Auston Matthews’ Curse all about?

Well, call it a playoff drama or expectations of the fans. Because why not when you see jerseys getting thrown on ice out of aggression and rage? For years it has been the Maple Leafs star carrying the playoff dreams for Toronto on his shoulders, but under the recent spotlight of the playoffs, the hopes turned to disappointment. Why? Because numbers didn’t tell a full story!

The Maple Leafs entered Round 2 with 2-0 against the Florida Panthers, but the dominance was lost immediately with three back-to-back losses. Besides tallying a total of 33 goals this year even while battling an upper body injury, the captain managed two goals in the 11 playoff games until the last one. Hence, this long stretch of underperformance from the one hugely recognized on ice is the so-called playoff curse that fans and others in the NHL community think!

And the jersey thing just added more spark to the already existing drama. When the Maple Leafs lost 6-1 to the Panthers at the Scotiabank Arena, the crowd hit the breaking point, and boom – Matthews’ jersey was tossed onto the ice, sending a clear message of frustration and lost faith. But hey, did the captain lose the charm, or faith, or confidence? Nope! Not when he said, “I’m just going to continue to shoot, continue to compete out there, and work and do the little things to the best of my ability. And when those opportunities come, I’m just going to keep shooting and keep believing that the next one’s going in.” Now that is exactly what you need to break the curse and shine again.