Auston Matthews Refuses to Celebrate Comeback Win, Sends Message to Teammates
Photo credit: Toronto Maple Leafs - YouTube
While the team came away with the victory on Monday, Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews refused to be happy about it, and had a stern message for his teammates.
If you were to look at the scoreboard at the end of the game, you'd see the Toronto Maple Leafs came away with a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
But if you didn't catch the game, that score is much more flattering than it should be. Toronto was outplayed for two and a half periods, having mustered only eight shots through two frames, and headed towards another brutal loss.
They persevered however with goals from Auston Matthews, Bobby McMann and a pair from William Nylander who was making his return. It was a thrilling comeback win that should make the team feel good about getting another W.
Matthews' Post-Game Honesty Reveals the Standard He Expects From the Leafs
But for Auston Matthews, and presumably the rest of the team; it was anything but time to celebrate.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Matthews was blunt in his assessment of how things went, and while he was happy to get the win overall, his focus was on the first 40 minutes:
It was great to come back & get the two points & have a great 3rd period. I think the focus should be more on the first two periods & why we lacked all those different things that got us down in the game in the first place. It's something we'll figure out.
The team certainly was hurt by the absence of Chris Tanev, and have now given up three or more goals in every game he has missed, and it was clear his injury is going to hurt the team for the time being.
Why the Comeback Doesn't Erase Toronto's Early Game Concerns
William Nylander was even more blunt afterwards, discussing that the team has no real explanation or excuse for how they played:
We played terrible for two periods. It's unacceptable. There's nothing more to say.
While Nylander was able to get two goals on the board, and he was seen smiling throughout the game, it doesn't overshadow the fact that for most of the game they were absolutely dominated.
If it weren't for Anthony Stolarz standing on his head it could have been a lot worse, and the team is lucky to come out not only with a win but that the score wasn't as lopsided as it maybe should have been.
Eight shots through two periods, meanwhile Evgeni Malkin had eight shots on his own throughout the game. Whatever Craig Berube barked at them during the second intermission seemed to work, but they need to keep it up.
Toronto will get a chance to have a less error-prone game on Wednesday as they take on the Utah Mammoth at home.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 4|1102 ANSWERS Auston Matthews Refuses to Celebrate Comeback Win, Sends Message to Teammates Should Toronto celebrate their win at all against Pittsburgh? | ||
| Yes | 570 | 51.7 % |
| No | 532 | 48.3 % |
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