And now for a quiet evening with Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine …

Well, maybe not. When these two leading rookies square off against each other Tuesday night in the Air Canada Centre, it will be anything but quiet.

But Matthews was trying not to make too much of the meeting between last June’s top two draft picks.

“It’s another game,” the No. 1 pick said after pulling even with Winnipeg’s Laine, the No. 2 choice, in the rookie goal-scoring race on Sunday. Both have 28. “You guys like to make a big deal of it, but it’s two points for our team and all points are important now.”

The two 19-year-olds have been at their best of late. Laine has five goals and three assists in the Jets’ last four games; Matthews has five points in four games and his goal Sunday in Carolina — an off-balance beauty — should be on highlight reels for some time.

For Matthews, though, the team comes first, which explains his attempts to nip the hype before it became a distraction for his club. That’s the product of solid grounding efforts both from the Leafs and from Matthews’ family, who have taken time from their lives in Arizona to stay with their gifted son in Toronto to ensure things like rest and nutrition are maintained on a daily basis.

But hockey is big business in Toronto and in Winnipeg, and both cities have been drawn to their young stars. And they only play each other twice a year in the regular season, which amplifies the Matthews-Laine meetings.

For this one night, fun should be at the centre of the proceedings.

There have been breathless comparisons between the two since they entered the league last June, and the two are closely matched: Matthews has an edge in Corsi percentages (53.2 to 48.9), the shot attempt differentials when players are on the ice, and offensive zone starts (63.3 per cent to 55.4); Laine has more power-play goals (eight to Matthews’ four), and averages 18 minutes and 11 seconds of ice time per game, where Matthews is at 17:45.

The two are neck and neck in the rookie scoring race, with Laine edging past Matthews and Leafs teammate Mitch Marner in points in the last week or so. And roughly 60 games into their careers, both Laine and Matthews are already considered elite goal scorers.

Matthews is obviously aware of his goal total and where he sits in the scoring races, but he insists none of that matters. He is showing a team-first attitude.

“I think, going into the season, I never put a number in my head,” Matthews said when asked about his goal-scoring. He is one of six teenagers to score at least 28 goals in a season in the last dozen years, joining Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, Jeff Skinner, Jordan Staal, and Laine.

“I don’t count goals, I don’t do that,” Matthews said.

“It’s basically like I said, (Laine is) on his team and I’m on mine, we’re in two different divisions, my focus is on myself and on this team, and I’m trying to get better every day and help this team win.

“Just play, that’s what you want. Play hockey.”

Matthews, as he has all season, tried to deflect the attention to his linemates and his team, showing a welcome level of maturity. But this Matthews-Laine thing can be fun for one night.

Leafs coach Mike Babcock felt as much himself.

“I think they’ll be writing about that for 20 years, won’t they?” Babcock said Sunday in Carolina. “I think it’s always good to compete. I think the competitive guys want to compete every night and want to compete against the best.

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“Laine is a heck of a player and Winnipeg has got a real good team. It should be fun.

As for Matthews’ view of it just being another two points?

“I think it is just another game in a lot of ways, so I don’t think that’s a wrong statement,” Babcock said. “But . . . if I’m coaching against (Carolina coach) Bill Peters (a former Babcock assistant in Detroit), it makes it a little bit different . . . if there’s 82 (games), it’s great to have something different.”

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