Leafs captain Auston Matthews' latest surprise should eliminate any doubt that his heart is in Toronto

Picture this: You and your friends head out to a local outdoor rink to shoot some pucks around and play some shinny, and you arrive at the rink, lace up your skates and step out onto the ice to see the Maple Leafs' all-time leading goal scorer Auston Matthews out there carving up the ice.

This was the reality for some visitors at Greenwood Park on Friday.

According to a report from BlogTO, Matthews wasn't out there for PR purposes. There were no cameras present, other than those belonging to fans at the park. Matthews was just out there for "a quick skate" during a day off.

After celebrating his 420th and 421st career goals this week with a pre-game ceremony, featuring the great Mats Sundin on Tuesday, Matthews and the Leafs took on the Flyers on Thursday, skating away with a 2-1 OT win and extending their team point streak to 8 games, collecting 14 of a possible 16 points along the way.

Matthews and the Leafs had just travelled home from Philadelphia following an OT win on Thursday, and despite having the day off on Friday, Matthews chose to spend a portion of it out on the ice on his own time, showing the love he has for the game and for the ice.

With rumours that Matthews and the fans have arrived at a bit of an impasse, and that the relationship between the fan base and their captain is strained, and that Matthews could be open to a change of scenery, these actions would indicate otherwise.

The former 1st overall pick has been red hot of late, having scored 8 points in his last 5 games, including a hat trick performance against the Winnipeg Jets on New Years Day. During that time, the fans have undoubtedly been behind him, showing that even the reports of the fan base turning on him were premature.

Matthews had entered Thursday's game on a 5-game point streak, and while he failed to produce a point in Philly, he'll have a chance to begin a new point streak tonight against the Vancouver Canucks before the team heads out on a lengthy road trip.

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