It's like he never left.
Auston Matthews missed 14 games with a shoulder injury, but the Toronto Maple Leafs' star quickly made up for lost time in his return on Wednesday. Matthews was part of a nifty passing play that resulted in a John Tavares power-play goal 3:36 into the Leafs' contest against the San Jose Sharks, giving the 21-year-old his first point of the night.
Tic-tac-toe. pic.twitter.com/aAnJpLwh4c
— Sporting News Canada (@sportingnewsca) November 29, 2018
Less than eight minutes later it was Matthews' turn to score. Toronto's top power-play unit worked their way around the San Jose zone, with Morgan Rielly eventually finding Matthews alone in the right faceoff circle. The first overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft made no mistake, wiring a shot past Aaron Dell and in off the post for the Leafs' second goal of the night.
In the third period, Matthews added his second goal of the night after deflecting an Andreas Johnsson shot. The goal was originally credited to Johnsson before a review showed Matthews' stick altering the flight of the puck and into Dell's net.
Matthews suffered a shoulder injury in a game against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 27. He had 10 goals and 6 assists through 11 games prior to the injury.