Eichel shines & Matthews vanishes in first game of back to back between the Leafs & Sabres.

One of the most enjoyable things about being a fan of professional sports is the ability to debate with rival fans on any number of topics surrounding the teams in the league. Of course one of the most obvious and regularly debated topics revolves around which star athlete is better and that debate took center stage on Friday night when two former top picks in the National Hockey League Entry Draft went head to head. 

On Friday former first round pick Jack Eichel (second overall at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft) and his Buffalo Sabres faced off against Auston Matthews (first overall at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft) and his Toronto Maple Leafs and as it turned out it was a great night for Eichel and a rather forgettable one for Matthews. There was plenty of debate coming into this game regarding which of the two star centers has proven to be better thus far this season and although one game will certainly not settle that debate any time soon, there was a clear winner on Friday night. Eichel's performance unquestionably lifted his team to victory while Matthews on the other hand seemed to be trapped in the long shadow cast by his Sabres' counterpart.

Eichel recorded 3 points on the night including an empty net goal that would prove to be the dagger in the heart of the Maple Leafs effort that evening, but it was his earlier efforts that truly sparked his team. Eichel helped his team tie up the gamer after coming out of the penalty box with his team down 2 - 1 and he drew nearly every Toronto player to him before making a beautiful pass to teammate Victor Olofsson during the game's third period which truly cemented the Sabres lead. In spite of the dazzling offensive display from Eichel on Friday night however Buffalo Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger was singing Eichel's praises after the game for an entirely different reason.

"I was most excited about his last couple of minutes, how he came to play without the puck, how hard he defended when they pulled the goalie out," Krueger said. "He did put one in the empty net, but it was the work he did before that I think that shows Jack is maturing right in front of our eyes. 

"Every day is fun coaching Jack Eichel."

Eichel was one of the players Krueger entrusted to be on the ice to preserve the lead in the final moments of the game on Friday, meanwhile if you were a Maple Leafs' fan looking for Auston Matthews on the ice you might have been forgiven for failing to find him. Although much of the criticism focused on Toronto Maple Leafs' backup goaltender Michael Hutchinson last night, NHL insider John Shannon was not so ready to lay it all at the feet of the veteran netminder. Shannon instead pointed to the fact that, in spite of getting plenty of ice time under newly appointed head coach Sheldon Keefe, Matthews had himself a rather poor outing.

"Lots of attention on Michael Hutchinson in the Leafs' loss in Buffalo...and its hard to argue," wrote Shannon. "However, the team's best player Auston Matthews was given almost 25 minutes of ice-time...and was -3 with 0 points...He has to be better in Keefe's system."

Of course this one game does not prove that Eichel is better than Matthews or vice versa, but thankfully the debate will continue this evening when these two teams face off for the second time in as many nights.