It’s after practice Monday afternoon and Auston Matthews is positioned atop the right faceoff circle, whistling one-timers dished up by Leafs assistant coach and power-play overseer Paul McFarland.



The attempts aren’t fluttering or misfiring like they might have earlier in the season. Rather, it’s dart after dart after dart into the net.



Matthews hadn’t shot many one-timers from there, his new position on the power play, or any place else before this season. If the practice bombs were any indication, he seems to be getting the hang of it.



McFarland sees it, too. He hustles over for an enthusiastic fist bump after the pile of pucks is extinguished.



A day later, with Buffalo in town, Matthews doesn’t find twine on the power play (or load up for any one-timers) but adds two more goals no less to his yearly platter — now 21 in 35 games, a 49-goal pace.



The second of those two goals, in the Leafs’ 5-3...