TORONTO -- John Tavares looked at Auston Matthews and shook his head in disbelief.
"Wow," he said.
It was the perfect word to describe Matthews' return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup Wednesday.
Tavares could not hide his admiration for the 21-year-old center, who had just set him up with a highlight-reel feed for the first goal of Toronto's 5-3 win against the San Jose Sharks at Scotiabank Arena.
It was the first of many wow moments produced by Matthews, who had two goals and an assist.
"What a great way to start," Tavares said. "What a great night for him. He's a special player and showed it right from the get-go."
Matthews missed the previous 14 games after injuring his left shoulder in a 3-2 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 27.
But any fears that he might be rusty were alleviated on his second shift of the game when he set up Tavares for a power-play goal at 3:38 of the first period.
Matthews followed that up by snapping a shot past goalie Aaron Dell at 11:19 of the first. If there were concerns about the state of his shoulder, they were muted by one quick flick of his wrists.
He finished off his triumphant return by tipping in a shot by Andreas Johnsson at 10:59 of the third for Toronto's fifth goal.
The performance fittingly earned him First Star honors, spawning a standing ovation for him after the game.
The scary part of this story: Even after all the accolades, Matthews said he didn't feel that great coming off the layoff.
"The first period, you've got all those emotions and the energy of being back," Matthews said. "That went OK."
He said it changed when he went to the dressing room for the first intermission. Suddenly, the layoff seemed to catch up with him.
"After the first, I felt terrible," he said. "I didn't feel too good in the second. In the third, I kind of got my legs under me and started skating a bit.
"That's to be expected in your first game back. It's tough to get into game shape just in practice. You kind of have to be in games to get that back."
If Matthews isn't at full speed, think of how good he and the Maple Leafs can be when he is.
Toronto went 9-5-0 in his absence, thanks in part to Tavares and forward Mitchell Marner. They were front and center again Wednesday, when Tavares scored twice and Marner had three assists. Marner is third in the NHL with 36 points (six goals, 30 assists), and Tavares' 17 goals are seventh.
As impressive as those numbers are, it's Matthews' statistics that are truly eye-popping. He is averaging a goal per game and has 19 points (12 goals, seven assists) in 12 games to start his third NHL season.
Matthews centered Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen against the Sharks. It was his first time playing on a line with Johnsson, who was the MVP of the American Hockey League Playoffs for the Calder Cup-winning Toronto Marlies last season.
Matthews said the line's success is a reflection of the depth the Maple Leafs have on their roster.
"I think you look up and down our lineup, it doesn't matter what line you're on, you're going to play with guys who are skilled, work hard, can make plays and finish chances," he said. "[Johnsson] is a speedy guy, he's skilled, he sees the play, his tenacity level is very high. Obviously, [Kapanen] and I are pretty familiar with each other from the start of the year. I think as we continue to play with each other we'll just get better and better."
Coach Mike Babcock agreed there is room for improvement for Matthews despite his three-point night.
"Your first couple of games, you get yourself going," Babcock said. "I don't know if he's going to go this way for a bit or if he can maintain it, but obviously he's a real talented guy, a big guy, a smart guy. He was good for us."
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