Leaf Takeaways: Auston Matthews, Dennis Hildeby a comeback combo

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It can no longer be said the Maple Leafs have lots of time to reverse their autumn foibles, not with the halfway mark of the NHL schedule arriving this week.

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So, it was important their captain take the reins on a night they fell behind three goals to a visiting foe that was on an 0-7 slide and had played the night before.

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If ‘comeback’ is to be their No. 1 New Year’s resolution, points in a fifth straight game is the way to start January.

Our take on a 6-5 win over the Winnipeg Jets that put Toronto two points out of a wild-card playoff spot, albeit with lots of traffic still in front of them.

HEALTH COMES FIRST

There must have been plenty of incentive for Auston Matthews to push through his shot-block injury from Detroit and play Tuesday against the Devils, but sitting the days in between paid off.

Not only did he lead the rally, notch his 14th career hat trick, he passed Darryl Sittler in home-ice goals (232-231) and put himself one behind Mats Sundin’s franchise record of 420.

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“You want to play every game and fight through stuff,” said Matthews, who has been out six games in all through the club’s first 40. “But sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. We’re playing a lot of games (16 this month) in not a lot of time and sometimes you don’t have those two days to rest or manage (injuries).

“It was tough to sit (the 4-0 victory over the Devils), but the guys played a great game (without him and the hurting William Nylander) and we followed it up tonight.”

Matthews was a little mad at himself for his inadvertent deflection past Joseph Woll after he lost an offensive zone draw, giving him even more zeal as the Leafs fell behind. He led them with five shots, was 8-for-12 on the draw and would’ve had more than one assist if linemate Max Domi hadn’t clanked the crossbar on a nifty opening-shift pass.

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The Sundin goals record could fall Saturday on the road against the Islanders.

“It’s special to be in the same sentence as him,” Matthews said of the club’s career points leader. “We all take a lot of pride in the jersey. When that moment comes, it will be cool.”

HAPPY HILDEBY HOLIDAY GAME

Toronto wasn’t getting to a historic New Year’s Day home record of 19-5-2-0 without the Hildebeast’s help.

In his fifth relief appearance amid his 15 games so far, he made 21 saves, including a few near the final buzzer as the Jets swarmed around him in search of the equalizer. Hildeby’s relief log is quite unique, with three rescues of struggling starters and two for injuries, cold off the bench, but hot in the crease.

“It’s not easy to come in like that,” Swedish countryman Oliver Ekman-Larsson praised. “But he’s been doing that all year. We have to do a better job of bailing Woller out.”

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Woll, coming off a 33-save shutout of New Jersey, suffered for the Leafs not cashing early chances and their defensive gaffes, giving up four goals on 18 shots. Coach Craig Berube said he didn’t like having to shock his team into smartening up by making an example of a reliable teammate who came in with a .923 save percentage.

‘’I’m not pulling him because it’s all on him. I wanted a change in momentum more than anything,” Berube insisted. “I don’t like pulling goalies, but it wasn’t going our way and it was the right move at the time.”

Berube had begun a net rotation, but still clearly sees the more senior Woll to be the best bet, especially after the shutout. Hildeby deserves the game on the Island, if it wasn’t to be his anyway.

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CLEARING A CONCERN

While Troy Stecher has filled in well defensively, Ekman-Larsson is scoring and Jake McCabe is now a plus-24, the absence of Chris Tanev and Brandon Carlo continues to leave the Toronto blueline at a disadvantage. The pairing of Morgan Rielly and Philippe Myers had a rough evening in their zone against the Jets. Myers’ worst mistake was leaving 20-goal forward Mark Scheifele alone in front of Woll to put Winnipeg up 4-1 late in the second period.

With the amount of games ahead, at least one extra blueliner should be worked in as Carlo nears a return from foot surgery. Matt Benning is already on hand, like Stecher anxious to re-start his NHL career, and Marshall Rifai cleared waivers this week after his conditioning stint from wrist surgery.

But with the run of points and the defence helping in an effective forecheck, Berube seemed to be in a forgiving mood after Thursday’s game.

“I didn’t feel we played poorly tonight,” he said. “We made some mistakes, they went in the net and that happens through a season. But I liked the guys’ attitude, everyone stayed with it, kept doing good things.”

There could be some pairing changes at Friday’s practice.

Lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby

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