Auston Matthews Addresses Overtime Mistake That Cost the Maple Leafs the Game
For the second straight game, Auston Matthews caused a costly turnover that contributed to the team's two losses against the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins.
The first time, last Thursday, Matthews and his line were battling for the puck in their defensive zone and let an opponent alone in front of Joseph Woll's net, who scored the game-winning goal against the Leafs. When he returned to the bench, he even had an altercation with an irate Craig Berube.
Matthews owned up in his post-game press conference and revealed he didn't take the altercation personally:
"Just a bad game all around. It's starts with me. But yeah, there's a number of things we obviously didn't do good tonight."
"I mean, I don't know. I mean, it's hockey. You get yelled at sometimes. Coach yells. You just kind of take it as it goes. I don't know. There's obviously an impact. We obviously all respect him and his presence and everything on the bench. Yeah, so it's not anything you take personally."
If that was the only mistake, perhaps Berube could excuse it but last night Matthews lazily tried to pass the puck to Marner in overtime, but Pastrnak intercepted the puck, which led to the Bruins' game winning goal in overtime.
After the game, Matthews opened up on his mistake, revealing he wanted to make a play but the puck made an "unfortunate bounce":
"I thought somebody was coming back, and then as I went to pass it, I looked up, and it wasn't the case. So I just tried to get back and make a play, and just an unfortunate bounce."
As for Craig Berube, he supported his captain, saying the team left him alone:
"We gotta support him a little bit better on that play. We left him alone there. It was a mistake by everybody out there"
Unfortunately, despite all these declarations, the result stays the same: the Maple Leafs lost their last three games. They will once again look to bounce back against the Winnipeg Jets, who are still undefeated eight games into the season as their road to get back on track gets a little bit bumpier.
POLL |
Do you think Auston Matthews will score 50 goals this season? |
Yes | 264 | 51.3 % |
No | 251 | 48.7 % |
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Previously on HockeyPatrol