Captain America, aka Auston Matthews, aka the highest-paid player in the NHL (until Leon Draisaitl takes over at the start of next season), has been stretching out his scoring drought in the Leafs’ playoff series against the Panthers for too long. He’s now gone 4 straight games against the Panthers goalless. Though Matthews himself made a statement following that (“I mean, the chances have been there. I think I’ve just got to do a better job of bearing down on some of them.”), coach Craig Berube has now had to step in and defend Toronto’s captain.

When asked what his thoughts were on the whole thing in a recent postgame interview, Berube replied in defense of his star captain. “He (Matthews) does a lot of other things in the game that really dictate things, and, you know, does a great job with a lot of other areas of the game. He’s just got to keep focusing on that. I mean, you know he’s going to get his looks and just stick with what he’s doing and don’t get too frustrated with anything, because it’s not just about scoring goals. He’s got a lot of other stuff he does really extremely well for us.”

“Big goals coming. You know that’s the way you got to think about it, and who knows when it’s going to happen, but just focus on playing the game, and he’s doing a good job; he’s doing a lot of good things for us. I get it, the puck’s not going in the net for him, but again, it’s not all about scoring.” One can’t really find fault with Berube’s statement considering the Leafs are currently tied with Florida 4 games in, and William Nylander is one of the top scorers in the playoff series so far, contributing six goals to the Leafs and thereby covering up for his captain somewhat.

Further, Berube might have just been trying to keep things cool in the face of immense scrutiny. Matthews’ drought has caused some serious clapback from fans, with the internet running rampant with statements like “From Captain America to Captain Underpants” and “Sure would be nice if Auston Matthews who is the highest paid player in the NHL at $13.25M would grab ahold of his team like the highest paid player in the league is supposed to do.” to Elliotte Friedman of the 32 Thoughts podcast saying outright, “I’m just wondering how injured he is.”

Regardless, Berube seemed insistent that the playoff games particularly weren’t just about scoring, adding with regard to Auston Matthews, “He’s out there killing penalties, he’s going against top lines, he’s like checking, he’s working, he’s competing, a lot of good stuff, you know, yeah, we’d like him to score, and so would he; it’s not easy. It’s not easy to score in the playoffs, you know, so I’m not overly worried about it.” Rumors of Matthews’ potential injury aside (he missed a few morning skates this postseason), it does seem that there is an inconsistency with top scorers in the regular season and postseason.

Apart from Auston Matthews: Top scorers who aren’t necessarily making it count in the playoffs this season

It’s interesting to see how scoring patterns change in each team in the postseason. Dynamics change, the crowds are larger, the fouls are more serious, the pressure is on, the stakes are at their highest, and of course, overtime is played in full twenty-minute periods till sudden death, so players are really pushed to their brink.

It isn’t just Auston Matthews; many top scorers haven’t been doing too well this season. Matthew Tkachuk managed an assist in game 4, but a goal in this series is yet to be seen, and Paul Maurice has had a similar take on the whole thing as Berube. “Whether a guy scores or not, sometimes it’s either a great save or a little bit of a block or a bit of a deflection. Their game could almost be identical to the nights that they are scoring; it’s just sometimes it goes in for them, and I would say that’s different than a guy on the fourth line, you know.”

But Tkachuk has the added ‘advantage’ (in this case) of a known injury he withstood in February; Auston Matthews doesn’t quite have the same excuse, though it is rumored he’s not quite 100% due to those missed practice skates.

The top scorers in the playoffs so far in descending order have been Mikko Rantanen (9), Nathan MacKinnon (7), Andrei Svechnikov (7), William Nylander (6), and Leon Draisatl (5), with only Nylander and Draisatl staying somewhat consistent, because here are the top scorers from the regular season in the same order: Leon Draisatl, William Nylander, Alexander Ovechkin, Tage Thompson, and David Pastrnak. No one’s giving Ovechkin too much grief, but sure, that most career goals record may be part of that.

Either way, Matthews has till game 5 to reclaim his Captain America title, or who knows what moniker the fans might next assign him!