The fact that the Maple Leafs captain would go on to score career goal No. 422 on this night was the icing on the celebratory cake.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means a lot,\u201d Matthews said about the fact that Sundin had flown in from Sweden to pay tribute to him. \u201cLike I\u2019ve said, it\u2019s been special. It\u2019s special to wear this jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have Mats come in, and to have so many players pave the way who have worn this jersey, it\u2019s very special and I\u2019m very very appreciative.\u201d<\/p>\n
So were the spectators, especially the ones behind the net at the west end of the arena, who each wore a letter on their individual white T-shirts that, when in the proper order, spelled out M-A-T-T-H-E-W-S. And when the Maple Leafs captain responded by putting Toronto ahead 3-0 at 4:01 of the second period, they held up three gold balloons depicting the numbers 4-2-2.<\/p>\n
Also in the stands was Sundin, who watched the proceedings alongside his pal and former Maple Leafs teammate Tie Domi<\/a>. Tie\u2019s son Max, Sundin\u2019s godson, is now himself a forward with Toronto and brought the crowd to its feet when he dropped the gloves with Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad<\/a> late in the first period.<\/p>\n Sundin chuckled when pondering the fact that Matthews set the record in his 664th game with the Leafs. Sundin scored 420 goals in 981 games in a Toronto uniform.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, he did it so fast,\u201d Sundin said. \u201cI thought it might take him a little longer.\u201d<\/p>\n He paused to laugh.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s important when there\u2019s history being made and records being broken,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing a Maple Leaf, it\u2019s so special for me, and I think I can relate to where Auston Matthews is in his career at this point.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of anxiety trying to get it over with, because he\u2019s got more important things to think about, winning hockey games for the Leafs. I wanted to be here for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Pretty much everyone in the building did, including members of the Panthers who watched the pregame festivities from the visitors bench.<\/p>\n