Twelve has become the unluckiest of numbers for both Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs.

In dropping their 12th consecutive decision to the Montreal Canadiens — this one a narrow 2-1 loss Saturday at the Bell Centre — Matthews had his goal scoring drought extended to 12 games. And, for the record, there’s no need for anyone to point it out to him, since he is his own harshest critic.

“It’s hard not to think about it sometimes, but you just gotta go out there and play,” Matthews said after the Maple Leafs morning skate. “I’m still creating chances, still out there playing — I feel like every game there’s little things that kind of go unseen that I think I’m improving on.

“So you just gotta keep working at it, gotta keep having fun; the chances are going to continue to come and you know one of these nights, they’re going to start going in.”

In his quest to find the back of the net again, he found himself with a new linemate from the unit he was on in victories over the Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers this past week. Connor Brown, fresh off a four-point performance Thursday against ex-Leaf James Reimer, moved to the wing alongside Matthews and Zach Hyman while William Nylander was slotted in beside Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov.

In 18:38 of ice time Saturday, Matthews recorded two shots and picked up the secondary assist on the Leafs lone goal, a power play tally from the stick of Nylander in the second period. But, once again, he left the arena with no goals to be seen on the scoresheet.

To be fair, any over-the-top fretting about his goal-scoring dry spell is probably premature. He is playing better defensively. He is still getting scoring chances. That’s all that matters to coach Mike Babcock, who seems to feel much of the outside concern revolving around the 2016 first overall draft pick is misguided.

“He’s an unbelievable umbrella,” Babcock said, tongue planted firmly in cheek. “He’s making sure no rain gets on anybody else on the team because no one talks about anybody but him, so it’s perfect.”

Behind closed doors, Babcock has been using video footage of Sidney Crosby and Henrik Zetterberg to help teach Matthews. Hey, if you want your prized prospect to improve, why not have him learn from the best?

“You gotta be a lot more aware out there, and each game it’s gotten better and better,” Matthews said. “Playing without the puck — I think it’s been the biggest thing coming into this season that the coaching staff’s wanted to work with me on.

“I think it’s been getting a lot better and I feel much more comfortable out there.”